Give me love
by PennFan
Summary: Senior year, Marley is dating Ryder, Jake still likes Marley but believes his feelings are unrequited. I really suck at summaries so just give it a read and hopefully you'll like it!
1. Chapter 1

**So I started watching glee again after a loooooong break of just not watching it, and I completely fell in love with these two characters and their relationship that I felt like I needed to write something and get it out of my system! Hope you all like it, It may be lame because I haven't written anything in a while but reviews would be much appreciated!**

* * *

Jake couldn't believe that he had finally reached his senior year at McKinley, mainly because he saw it as an achievement that he managed to stay in one school for over two years without being kicked out, but also because it only felt like yesterday that he was the new kid, labelled as a 'womanizing bad ass with a chip on his shoulder'. But that all changed once he was introduced to the glee club, and when a certain blue eyed girl walked into his life.

That girl happened to be Marley rose, one of his very close friends, which is unusual for Jake since he never really had close friends who were girls before Marley, but she wasn't always just a friend. In their sophomore year Jake and Marley dated for a while and even though it didn't last as long as he hoped it would have, he cared about her... a lot; he would even go as far as saying he loved her, but would never openly admit that to anyone now. Their relationship ended not long after Mr Shue's and Miss Pillsbury (not so successful) wedding, why he did it and what he told Marley however where two completely different reasons. After finding out about Ryder kissing Marley, Jake found himself not feeling angry or betrayed, but guilty. Guilty because he let Ryder think of all the ideas, and even pay for one of Marley's Valentine's Day presents and guilty because he knew he could never treat Marley as well as Ryder could. His guilt ate away at Jake, until finally one day when they were alone on the bleachers; he decided they needed to talk.

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

"_Uh, could you sit down here for a minute?" Jake asked as he looked up at Marley whilst fidgeting with his hands, brushing them against his jeans._

"_Sure" Marley replied with a smile on her face as she sat down beside him, looking at him with those big beautiful eyes, "What's up?"_

_Jake wouldn't look at her in the eyes, he couldn't. How could he look at her knowing that in a couple of seconds, what they had would be over, and that she would blame him for it._

"_Listen, I'm only gonna say this once so I need you to really listen and try to understand me right now okay?" He said building up the courage to look at her and taking hold of her hands that were rested on her lap._

_Marley didn't speak; she just bit the side of her lip slightly and nodded for him to continue._

_Jake gave a loud exhale as he began to talk, "Okay, first I just need to you to know that no matter what I'm about to say and the outcome of it, that I will always care about you Marls okay? I need you to understand that." When she didn't reply again, Jake took it as his cue to carry on._

"_These past couple of months with us have been... amazing, I never thought that one person would have such an effect on my life, like the effect you've had on me. You make me a better person, every single day I am a little bit better because of you. But after Shuester's wedding I realised a few things." _

_He paused for a moment to just take everything in, he realised that this was probably going to be the last time he'd be this close to her, to be able to hold her hand and look at her the way he was now. It made him want to back out and not go through with it and just kiss the girl who was sitting next to him, the girl he had fallen completely in love with. But Jake knew she deserved better, that she deserved Ryder. Ryder who would show her in every way possible how much he liked her, who could offer her things that Jake might never be able to offer. He carried on,_

"_I realised, that I'm not ready for this... for us, to be together like this. Everything has just become so intense so quickly and I feel like I can't breathe anymore." He hated himself for what he was saying to her, he wanted to just get it all over and done with before she could get the chance to say anything, because he knew that it would just make it that more harder if she began to protest._

_Marley shook her head in disbelief, "Is this about the kiss with Ryder, Jake? Because I swore to you it meant nothing to me!, you're the only one I want to be with, and it's been that way since we first spoke in this very same spot on the bleachers." _

_Jake could see the tears begin to form in those crystal blue eyes of hers and if there was one thing he could not do right now, it was watch her cry over him. He brought his hands too her face and spoke softly, "It's not about the kiss okay? I promise you it's not about that. I just... I can't do it anymore marls; I'll only let you down." He said looking at her with a sad look painted across his face_

_She turned her head away from his hands and shook it, "Don't do this Jake. Please don't do this." she whispered trying to hold back the tears that were falling from her face._

_Jake clenched his jaw wanting to punch himself for making her cry, but he knew in the long run that this would be better for her, that she'd be happier without him even if he couldn't say the same for himself. He brought his forehead to the side of her head breathing in her flowery scent and gently whispering into her ear, "I'm sorry... but you deserve better." He finished and closed his eyes and inhaled one last time, before using all his strength and will power to pry himself away from her and walk away, walk out of her life._

**FLASHBACK ENDS**

* * *

It was safe to say that he and Marley didn't really speak much for a while after he ended things, not that he could blame her. But finally she came around near the end of their junior year, and broke the ice by challenging him to beat her new high score at bad biggies while they were sat in the cafeteria. Of course by that time she had already moved on and to no surprise it was with his best friend, Ryder Lynn.

Ryder had asked Jake if it was okay with him the day before they broke up for the summer, a part of him relieved that he would not have to see much of them as a couple in school since they were close to their summer break, but the majority of him still felt that gut sinking feeling when Ryder had asked him. Jake just kept reminding himself that it was for the best and that he and Marley were simply just friends now and she no longer held those feelings for him, even if he couldn't say the same.

To his delight, he didn't see much of them together when they were on their break, he seen them a few times at a couple of parties, but mostly he'd see them separately when he and Ryder would go round to each other's houses to play video games, or when he and Marley would hang out at the park or breadstix and just talk. But he knew that it would all change again now they were back at McKinley for their final year and he would have to get used to seeing them walking down the corridor holding hands, singing duets together in glee club and possibly showing public displays of affection, which honestly made Jake feel sick to his stomach thinking about.

After walking to his locker, he decided he'd head to the choir room since he had a free period on his hands. Since first joining two years ago, he'd now come to really love and appreciate everyone in the glee club, after the remaining "originals" as he and Marley liked to call them left, and winning his first of two national trophies, he realised what a difference it had made in him.

He walked into the not so empty choir room and stood at the door frame listening to the chords being played on the piano by a brunette that he knew all too well, a couple of feet in front of him.

"Wow, you're really coming along huh?" he said slowly walking into the choir room and stopping before the girl in front of him turned around.

Marley was taken aback by the person behind her speaking and quickly turned her herself to see the face that matched the voice. Her face formed into a wide smile as she saw Jake Puckerman standing there with his signature leather jacket and backpack,

"Hey Jake"

"Hi to you too" He said giving her that smile that people say he only used when he was around her, "Feels like it's been a while since I last saw you, where you been rose?" he asked with a smirk on his face sitting himself down on the piano's bench next to her.

Marley let out a slight chuckle, "Well, it has been nearly 3 weeks since we last saw each other, I could ask you the same question Puckerman." She retaliated as she turned back around and began looking through her music sheets once more.

Jake couldn't help but smile to himself as she retaliated. Marley had grown up a lot too since sophomore year; she was no longer the wallflower girl with the eating disorder like everyone used to see her as. She was still the same in ways, but now Jake could see that there was a lot more confidence in her, confidence that he only used to see when they were alone, but now everyone seen it and now she was just Marley, the girl that could sing.

He turned around to join her and looked over at what she was doing, "Sorting out songs for glee club already I see?" he said bringing himself just a little bit closer to see what songs she was going through.

"Yeah, I seen Mr Shue earlier and he mentioned wanting us to all sing solo's each when we get back, just expressing how we've been feeling at the moment, an easy way to get us back into the routine of things really-." She replied quickly as she turned round to face him to carry on talking but stopped dead in her tracks as she realised how close their faces now where.

Jake swallowed hard as Marley turned round, he wasn't quick enough to react and slide himself a bit further away from her. He blinked his eyes dazedly, trying his hardest not to get lost in those eyes of hers like he often found himself doing when they were together, _but you aren't together so stop staring at her you look like a weirdo, _he thought as he quickly blinked again and cleared his throat whilst edging slightly away from Marley.

"Oh yeah? Sounds good." He said rather enthusiastically trying to diffuse any awkwardness that could have come from that situation. "What are you thinking about singing then?" he asked

Marley exhaled and brought her lips together tightly as she started going through her music sheets once more and trying not to think about what might have just happened, "Ummmm, I'm not sure yet, I think it's going to be a toss up between Stay by Rihanna, or Explosions by Ellie Goulding." She replied nodding her head to herself and refusing to make any sort of eye contact with him as possible.

"Why those two in particular?" Jake asked intriguingly

"Well... Stay was the song that was playing in breadstix when Ryder and I went on our first official date..." Marley said and paused hesitantly not sure whether to carry on since she had brought Ryder up. Even though they hadn't dated in two years and he told Ryder he was fine with it, whenever it came to them two and Ryder being mentioned, things for her just felt awkward.

Jake noticed the paused and laughed slightly, "It's okay Marls, he's not Voldemort, you can say his name around me y'know. Okay, so, why explosions then?"

She sighed feeling rather silly that she thought he'd have been bothered over her and Ryder being together. She shook her head and replied, "Oh er... I just really like the song is all. Anyway what about you? What are you thinking on singing?" She said trying to divert the questions away from her

"Oh you know me, I'll probably just think of whatever comes to me at the time" He said looking at her

"Well you better think of something fast, because you'll be singing it right after lunch." Marley said turning and looking at him, letting their eyes meet for the second time.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head, I'll have one ready," Jake said as he stood up and pulled his backpack over his shoulder, "And it will be awesome." He said with a cheeky grin plastered on his face

Marley laughed slightly, "I'm sure it will be. I just hope mine will turn out okay... whatever song I choose."

Jake stuck his head out slightly and spoke in a whisper, "I'm gonna let you in on a secret okay? Whatever you sing Marley Rose, it always turns out perfect" He said with a smile on his face. He cleared his throat once more and spoke again, "Anyway, I gotta run, Mrs Pizer will have a field day with me if I turn up late for another one of her lessons. See you after lunch?"

Marley lowered her head trying to hide her slightly reddened cheeks, "You have to say that, you're my friend." She replied with a soft giggle. "Yeah sure, I'll see you then I guess."

"See you then Marls." Jake said with a smile as he left the choir room and began walking back through the halls unable to wipe the stupid smile off his face. He missed speaking to Marley and he knew that if he couldn't have him in his life as his girlfriend, then he would damn sure have her as a friend. Singing a song of how he had been feeling over the summer though, was proving to be more of a challenge than he expected.

* * *

**Okay so that's the first chapter! Next chapter will be up sooner rather than later hopefully. I just thought I'd add as well that some chapters might be from Jake's pov, like this one and some might be from Marley's and some might even be from both! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Told you the second chapter would be up sooner rather than later! Hope you enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these songs, I just kind of love them right now?**

* * *

Fifth period came sooner rather than later to Jake's dismay as he had yet to come up with a song to sing in today's glee club session. He walked back into the choir room like he did a couple of hours before, but this time there was a lot more people, and the spare seat next to Marley that Jake usually sat in, was now being used by someone else, and that someone was his best friend. He glanced over at them, not really wanting to look too much but couldn't help but feel that tinge of jealousy bubbling up inside of him when he saw Ryder's arm rested around Marley's shoulder.

"Hey man what's up!" Ryder shouted over to Jake as he walked into the room more

"Hey Ryder, still sour that I beat your ass at cod the other night?" Jake said with a slight laugh as he noticed Marley out of the corner of his eye smiling towards him

Ryder laughed and shook his head, "I let you win, rematch soon though?"

"Yeah sure just gives me another reason to beat your ass again" Jake replied with a laugh, "How about tonight after we're done with basketball training?"

"No can do my friend, me and Marley kind of have plans" Ryder replied whilst turning and looking at Marley smiling and giving her a light kiss on the lips.

Jake clenched his jaw slightly as he watched them kiss, he was right, it sucked seeing them together like that. He noticed Marley smiled awkwardly and lowered her head slightly, figuring that she still felt awkward about the situation, Jake tried to put her at ease, "Oh no problem, we've got the weekend it won't take too long to beat you anyway" He said with a laugh and trying to give a reassuring look to Marley at the same time, which he thinks she noticed because she gave him a half smile back.

He sat himself down on the first chair he saw available and set his backpack beside him. He couldn't help but get the feeling that someone was staring at him, he knew who he hoped it would be, but he didn't want to turn round to only be disappointed and find that it was just a newbie freshman girl ogling him.

"Well if it isn't the less attractive Puckerman" said the sharp voice of the person sitting beside him

"Kitty... always a pleasure" said Jake with a smirk while staring straight ahead and paying no real attention to her. He knew Kitty had changed a lot over the last two years as well, yeah she was still her witty and sometimes overly insulting self, but she was a lot more careful on what she said to people these days.

"So how was your summer break? As lame as I thought it would be?" she asked

"So you thought about me during the break then?" Jake said as he turned towards her with a grin on his face

Kitty laughed at Jake's attempt to begin some sort of banter between the two, "Come on now little puck, we were together like what? Once for at least a week in sophomore year, and sure you're hot an all but the saying, been there done that and the t shirt weren't all that great is springing to mind right now." She said replying to him whilst smiling. She then leaned a little bit closer to him and spoke quietly

"And besides, you're not fooling anyone. I see how you look at her and how you've looked at her since the two of you broke up, and a word of advice? You might wanna stop with the whole love struck teenager face every time you see her, people are naming that smile the Marley smile." She said as she leaned back into her chair smiling triumphantly

Jake didn't know what to say back, so he didn't, he just simply laughed and shook his head out of embarrassment. Surely he wasn't being that obvious? Kitty has always had some sort of sixth sense when it came to these things he thought and quickly shrug off her comment.

* * *

Some time had passed and Mr Shue allowed all the new glee kids get their songs out of the way first, to Marley's surprise, there were some really strong singers this year which could only help them with their try for national's again this year. Now it was going to be one of the older ones next which meant either herself, jake, ryder, kitty or unique and Marley had still yet to figure out which song she was going to sing. But luckily for her, Jake was first to be called out by Mr. Shue to sing. She smiled as he grabbed hold of his guitar and pulled his chair across to the middle of the room. She may not have been happy with him last year, but Marley was really happy that her an Jake were friends again, she had missed him so much in junior year, but she just couldn't bring herself to speak to him because every time she saw him it was just a constant reminder of that day at the bleachers which she still cannot fully bring to the front thought of her mind now. She never understood why he chose to end things with her, at first she thought it was the kiss with Ryder, but the way he was speaking to her, she knew there was more to it than that. But none of it mattered now, she was with Ryder and she was happy, but she couldn't deny the constant feeling of 'what if' every time her and jake were alone together.

"So jake what have you got for us?" Mr Schue asked

"Uh, I think I'm gonna go with an Ed Sheeran number. I listened to him a lot over the summer and I dunno, I guess I can... relate to some of his lyrics" Jake replied looking what Marley thought, nervous?

"Okay, whenever you're ready."

Marley watched as jake began slowly strumming his fingers on the guitar, she watched as he simply got lost in the sound of his guitar and then began to sing...

_Give me love like her,_

_Cause lately I've been waking up alone._

_Paint splatted tear drops on my shirt,_

_Told you I'd let them go._

_And that I'll fight my corner,_

_Maybe tonight I'll call ya,_

_After my blood turns into alcohol,_

_No I just wanna hold ya_

He hit every note perfectly, like Marley knew he would, like he always did, she couldn't help but smile as she watched him sing, her mind vaguely wondering as to why he chose this song out of all the Ed Sheeran songs. He had his eyes closed for most of the first verse, but as the build up to the chorus was approaching, she watched as he opened them and the first person he looked at was her.

_Give a little time to me, we'll burn this out,_

_We'll play hide and seek, to turn this around,_

_All I want is the taste that your lips allow,_

_My my, my my-y oh give me love,_

_My my, my my-y oh give me love,_

_My my, my my-y oh give me love,_

_My my, my my-y oh give me love,_

_My my, my my-y_

_Give me love._

Fortunately for her, he didn't look long enough for Ryder, or the rest of the Glee club to realise. There was something in his eyes when he looked at her that got Marley wondering. Why did he look straight to her? The song carried on and Jake continued to sing...

Give me love like never before,

Cause lately I've been craving more.

And it's been a while but, I still feel the same,

Maybe I should let you go,

You know I'll fight my corner,

And that tonight I'll call ya,

After my blood, is drowning in alcohol,

No I just wanna hold ya.

He kept glancing up from the floor towards Marley which made her begin to wonder if there was something on her face, seriously, why was he staring? It didn't last long however as, as Marley was turning around to make sure nothing was on the wall behind her, she caught sight of Jake smiling towards someone, and that someone happened to be kitty who was sporting some sort of smug smirk across her face...

_Give a little time to me, we'll burn this out,_

_We'll play hide and seek, to turn this around,_

_All I want is the taste that your lips allow,_

_My my, my my-y oh give me love._

Jake slowly began to stop playing his guitar and propped himself up more slightly. The whole of the glee club began to clap and cheer. Marley was too busy trying to figure out why she felt angry when she saw jake looking at kitty, that she was the only one not clapping along with the rest of them.

"He was good right?" She heard Ryder ask from the right side of her, bringing her back into the present

"Hm?" Marley asked questioningly as she looked at Ryder

"Jake... The song? I was saying it was good" ryder replied with a bemused look on his face

"Oh yeah! Mhm, he was really good" Marley said beginning to clap along with the rest of them

"I can't wait for you to see me perform mine, it's pretty awesome" Ryder replied and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and turning back on his seat to face the front.

"Yeah... awesome" Marley spoke almost too low for Ryder to even hear, her eyes went back from kitty, to jake, and back to kitty again. _Where they dating now? Was that why he sang that song? Well why did he look at me first before her? Probably just needed to look at a friendly face, because that's what we are... friends, _Marley thought to herself before looking towards Jake and giving him a weak smile while spoke

"Well done jake! A really good rendition of the song. Any reason why you decided to sing it?" He asked with his eyebrows raised.

"Um, i-it was for someone, and uh, they know who they are... deep down they know." Jake said with a defeated smile

"O-Okay, well it was really good... right kitty you're up next!" Mr Schue replied as Jake pulled his chair back to where it originally was and sat back down.

* * *

Jake didn't dare turn around and risk a glance at Marley after singing. He felt terrible, he knew he looked at her on more than one occasion when he was singing that song and he knew she caught onto it. _I shouldn't have done it, Ryder's my best friend and Marley's well... his girlfriend, I shouldn't be going around singing songs about her and sneaking glances at her. _He shook his head out of irritation as he watched Ryder single the final few lines of his chosen song Duke Box hero. Jake didn't really understand what the meaning behind the song was for him at first, but Ryder then explained that it was his 'go to' song whenever he was stressed over his dyslexia, which made jake feel even more stupid because he had sang a song about his best friends girlfriend, while his best friend sang a song that made him feel better about himself.

It was now Marley's turn to sing, everyone else had been and Jake sat there preparing himself for her to sing Stay and stare at her boyfriend the whole way through. Kitty give him a playful nudge as Marley sat down in front of them, to which Jake just simply shook his head and sighing he watched as Mr Schue spoke to Marley.

"And finally, Marley... what will you be singing and why?"

"Well I planned on singing Stay by Rihanna but I, uh, I don't think I know all the words yet. So I'm just gonna go off the bat and sing explosions by Ellie Goulding because I heard it on the way to school this morning and it was pretty awesome." She replied

Jake looked at her with a raised eyebrow, he was pretty sure he had seen Marley going with the music sheets of both of those songs, there was no way she didn't know the lyrics of one of them. Jake soon shrugged it off and leaned back on his chair with his arms folded and began to listen...

_You trembled like you'd seen a ghost,__  
__And I gave in__  
__I lack the things you need the most, you said where have you been.__  
__You wasted all that sweetness to run and hide,__  
__I wonder why.__  
__I remind you of the days you poured your heart into,__  
__But you never tried.__  
__I've fallen from grace,__  
__Took a blow to my face,__  
__I've loved and I've lost,__  
__I've loved and I've lost,_

He watched in awe of her as she sang the song, she wouldn't look up from the floor but he wouldn't take her eyes off her. He knew where this was going, and he wasn't sure that he was going to like it.

_Explosions...on the day you wake up,__  
__Needing somebody and you've learned,__  
__It's okay to be afraid__  
__But it will never be the same,__  
__It will never be the same.__You left my soul bleeding in the dark,__  
__So you could be king.__  
__The rules you set are still untold to me and I lost my faith in everything,__  
__The nights you could cope, your intentions were gold,__  
__But the mountains will shake,__  
__I need to know I can still make_

As the song picked up and Marley reached the chorus she lifted her head and let herself get lost in the song. Jake knew exactly who this song was about and why she was singing it, but he couldn't be mad at her, he didn't blame her for feeling that way about him when he broke things off. It felt exactly like it did 3 years ago when he was sat in the same seat watching her sing every time, and it was the exact same gut wrenching feeling he felt along with it. Still, he wouldn't allow himself to look away from her, if there was a chance she would even slightly look at him, he wanted her to know that he was sorry and he wanted to tell her in that look.

_Explosions...on the day you wake up,__  
__Needing somebody and you've learned,__  
__It's okay to be afraid__  
__But it will never be the same.__And as the floods move in,__  
__And your body starts to sink.__  
__I was the last thing on your mind,__  
__I know you better than you think,__  
__Cause it's simple darling, I gave you a warning,__  
__Now everything you own is falling from the sky in pieces,__  
__So watch them fall with you, in slow motion,__  
__I pray that you will find peace of mind,__  
__And I'll find you another time,__  
__I'll love you, another time._

She finished the song off, and to Jakes dismay, she didn't once look over to him. Before Jake could get a chance to pull Marley aside and ask her about the song, she had grabbed hold of Ryder's hand and hurriedly pulled him out of the choir room into the now busy halls of McKinley. Jake was frustrated with himself, he needed to tell her that he was sorry, he realised that since they had started speaking again, he never really properly apologised to her for what he did, so it came to no surprise that she sang that song. He got his books from his locker and put them in his bag and headed towards the exit doors of McKinley. He decided that if she was going to keep avoiding him, then he was going to turn up at her house and apologise to her himself.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three! Enjoy :)**

* * *

It was a Monday night, and usually on Monday nights, Jake would either be sat in his room playing video games or out with his friends and basically doing anything he could to avoid doing homework. This night though, he found himself in his car driving to Marley's place and trying to bring together any sort of sentence that could begin to tell her how sorry he was. He knew turning up at her house out of the blue was asking for trouble, but he didn't care. When he realised just how much of an effect their break up had on her, he needed to apologize to her. He owed her that. What Jake couldn't understand however, was the reason she chose to sing a song like that now, what triggered it? Did she realise who he was singing about in the choir room? Was she mad at him? He tightened his grip on the steering wheel as he became increasingly annoyed with himself and why he thought singing that song was nothing short of a terrible idea.

He thought back to what Kitty had said to him earlier, could everyone really notice it? Did he make it _that _obvious? He had casually dated a few girls after Marley so it wasn't like he has been alone for the past two years and refused to look at another girl, even if none of them lasted as long or ever gave jake that feeling that Marley always gave him. Could Ryder see it? Did he know that his best friend has always secretly (or not so much apparently) had feelings for his girlfriend? As strong as his feelings may be for Marley he thought, he couldn't let them get the better of him and do something stupid and cause any problems with him and Ryder, they had been down that road once before, and he didn't want to go back down their again, and especially when the odds were more in Ryder's favour than his own this time around.

He slowly pulled his car up on the opposite side of the road to which Marley's house was on, and sat in his car for a few minutes thinking about what to say, before opening the car door and stepping out of the car.

* * *

Marley and Ryder were sat on her couch watching some sort of wildlife documentary when the silence was broken.

"So" Ryder spoke softly, turning his body so he was facing Marley, "You sang _really_ well today." He finished, while smiling.

She gave him a smile back and turned herself towards him so they were facing one another, "Thanks... you did too. I really liked the song you chose."

"Yeah well, it means something to me... what was the meaning behind yours?" Ryder asked while slightly biting his top lip

"I told you... there wasn't a meaning, I wanted to sing stay but I couldn't remember all the words and I heard explosions on the radio this morning so I thought I'd give it a shot." Marley replied trying to give her most convincing smile to Ryder. Honestly, she didn't know why she decided to sing that song, it just felt right to sing at the time. Nor did she completely understand why she felt all this frustration towards Jake for singing the song he did. If it was about her then she could understand because it would have been rude to sing that type of song to a girl who is taken by his best friend, and incredibly confusing because he broke up with her so who would sing that sort of song about someone they broke up with? But she knew it wasn't about her, the song was aimed at Kitty, she realised that when she caught them looking and smiling towards each other when he was singing. But why should that bother her? Why was she bothered over Jake singing a song for Kitty and not her when she had Ryder? Sweet and kind Ryder, who she cared about. They hadn't said those three words to each other yet but Marley knew she felt something for him, she just wasn't entirely sure that it was love _yet. _

"Oh... well as much as I would have loved to have heard you singing that song, you sounded perfect." He said with a smile as he leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips

_Just like Jake said I would... wait stop thinking about what Jake said when your boyfriend is kissing you! _ Marley thought to herself as she blinked a couple of times before closing her eyes and wrapping her arms around his neck, reciprocating his kiss. It didn't however; last long as before they knew it there was a knock on the door. Marley let out a slight sigh as they were interrupted.

"Ignore it?" Ryder said against her lips

"I can't, it might be my mom, and she might have forgotten her keys or something. Wait there I'll be right back" Marley said as she stood up and walked out of the living room and towards the front door.

* * *

Three knocks had already been pressed against the door as Jake stood outside Marley's house, pulling the sleeves of his top over his hands and moving his shoulders up and down to keep himself warm, it was winter and why he thought it would be a good idea to leave the house without his jacket was a question he didn't have time for. He still wasn't exactly sure what he'd say to her when she opened the door, but he never had much time to think because before he knew it the door was being opened and the blue eyed brunette was standing in front of him.

"Jake... what are you doing here, is everything alright?" Marley asked slightly taken aback by the boy standing outside her home

"Everything's fine... well, I don't know really... are you mad at me?"

"What? Why would I be mad with you?"

"Because of what I did... to you... when I broke up with you" He looked at her unsure of how she was going to react.

Marley shook her head and let out a sigh, "Jake I'm not doing this with you right now, I can't do this with you" She said swallowing hard she said going to close the door. She didn't want to have this conversation with him because she knew how it would end, how it always ended when she thought too much about that day on the bleachers and how she was left crushed by the boy who broke down all her walls, only to put them back up again.

Jake held his arm out to keep the door ajar, "Marley please, I just need you to know one thing, something that I didn't realise until today, something that I completely missed-"

She pulled the door back open and spoke in a slight whisper, "Ryder's here okay, so can you please just go?"

"I'll go when I've said what I need to say Marls." He said with a stern look on his face, "I know that song you sang today was about me, and before you go denying that it was... I'm not mad at you for singing it, I was an ass to you and I know that, and that's why I'm here. To apologise for being such an ass and breaking up with you the way I did. I was young and stupid and you deserved more than that. I lost you for a whole year after what I did Marley, and I don't wanna lose you again, I don't wanna bring it back up I just needed you to know that I'm sorry." He said as he finished, panting slightly as he tried to get everything he wanted to say out.

She gave him a smile and walked out her door way to pull him into a tight hug, being brought back into that all too familiar feeling she got every time they embraced. She needed to hear that from him, as selfish as it may have sounded, she really needed to hear him apologise to her. She buried her head into his shoulder as she spoke, "I'm sorry about the song, I guess I just had to let it all out in some way."

He laughed as he rested his chin on her head, "Yeah well I deserved it, and anyway you lasted long enough without singing or saying anything so I'll allow it, just don't be making every glee club rehearsal into the I hate Jake Puckerman club" he said with a soft laugh

Marley pulled away from their hug and looked at him, "I don't hate you Jake, I never could... you're my friend. And besides, you're not _that_ popular to have your own club" She said with a smirk trying to lighten the mood

"Oh is that so rose?" He asked laughing, "Well maybe I need to try more and get on peoples nerves so I finally make it."

"Maybe..." she said as she leaned against the door frame of her house laughing along with Jake.

Her laughter was so contagious, he found himself laughing a little bit more before finally realising that they'd been stood out there for at least 5 minutes and Ryder would definitely be getting suspicious. "Well, I'll let you and Ryder carry on with your night, tell him I said hey, and that I'm still waiting on this re match for whenever he's feeling lucky."

"I will do jake... see you." She said

"See you tomorrow Marls." He replied as he turned round and began walking away

She didn't want to say anything, but she felt like she had to, she had to let him know that she was okay with him moving on because she couldn't expect him to not too when she had been with his best friend for nearly over 3 months now.

"Jake?"

He turned round hopefully, "Yeah?"

"You should tell Kitty how you really feel... I know we're not the best of friends, but if she makes you happy, then you should go for it." She said with a weak smile on her face

Jake looked at her confused, "Wait... what?"

"See you tomorrow" She said trying to look more convincing as she shut the door. Leaning against it as it closed, she closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh before gathering all her thoughts, walking back into her living room and sitting down next to Ryder. She was happy with their conversation and was glad that she could still call Jake her friend, she never wanted to lose him.

* * *

_What the hell had just happened? _Jake thought to himself, why did Marley think he had feelings for Kitty? Why did she want him to tell her of these apparent feelings? Who had she heard this from? Those where the questions that were running through Jake's mind whilst driving home. A part of him was left relieved that Marley didn't ask about the song he sang, but the other part of him wanted to turn the car round and tell Marley that he has no feelings for Kitty and that song was sang because of her and his feelings for her.

As the car came to a halt and Jake was once more at his home, he pushed his head backwards against the car seat out of frustration. How could he want her to know how he felt, without it affecting anyone else, having any sort of impact on his friendships, and without generally having to say it? He couldn't carry on feeling like this all the time, he had to let it go, let her go, accept the fact that she's moved on and that the person she is now with was his best friend. They were friends, and that was for the best,

"For the best." He muttered to himself as he took himself out of his car and walked towards his house. No more songs, no more lingering looks, no more smiles that were only reserved for her. He needed to be a good friend, to her and to Ryder and let them be. It was for the best.


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay so here's the next chapter! Sorry if its terrible but my Jarley heart has taken a beating since that last episode, I mean really... Ryder?! Ugh anyway hope you guys enjoy!**

* * *

It had been three days, and Jake found that having to avoid Marley around McKinley was proving to be rather difficult, he had even arrived late to their science classes so he would be made to sit at the front of the room instead of in his usual seat, next to her. He knew it may have been a bit extreme, but he couldn't see any other way around the situation, he didn't trust himself around her and he didn't want to put her in any sort of awkward situation. She was with Ryder now and he was sure she was happy with him.

Soon enough however, it was last period on a Thursday, which only meant one thing; glee club. Jake knew he couldn't avoid her here, but it made things easier with Ryder being around and probably absorbing all of Marley's attention. He walked into the already full room when he heard the voice of whom he'd been avoiding all day.

"Hey Jake, over here we saved you a seat" Marley beckoned as Jake noticed the free chair that was situated to Marley's left and Ryder to her right. He smiled rather unconvincingly and nodded his head slightly as he began to make his way over to the vacant chair.

"So where have you been for the past three days? I feel like I haven't seen you like at all." She asked with a light smile as Jake took his seat next to her

"Oh you know just... busy doing school work and... stuff" Jake replied trying to make as little eye contact with her as possible

Marley's voice became slightly hushed as Mr Shue entered the room and began to talk over her, "Jake Puckerman doing work?! How times have changed!" she said teasingly whilst pretending to look shocked

Jake let out a laugh as he listened to her, he wanted to reply back but he knew he couldn't, mainly because Mr Shue had just walked in, and because he told himself to keep his distance. He saw her look at him weirdly out of the corner of his eye as she soon sighed and turned her attention back to Ryder. He hated what he was doing, he never planned on doing it, but his feelings were too strong for her at this point and it was becoming more and more difficult for him to not delve into his impulsive urges and kiss her. Even when he was sat next to her like he was now, he wanted to just turn her around, away from her boyfriend and kiss her, not caring who would see it or what they would say. But if Jake had learnt anything from the last two years, it was that his impulses only landed him in trouble.

"So!" Mr Shue spoke whilst clapping his hands together, making sure he grapped everyone's attention, "Your assignments for this weekend is to pair up and find a song by a duet you would deem as... unconventional."

Great, jake thought, as usual he was going to have to work with Kitty or some doe eyed freshman who wouldn't even be able to speak around him. He supposed working with Kitty wasn't all that bad, because they usually came up with some really good songs to sing, but since Marley thought he had feelings for her, he felt like he didn't want to add fuel to the fire. For some reason, he got a vibe that Marley was upset with Jake about him _apparently _having feelings for Kitty, and for the life of him he couldn't understand why he just knew he didn't want to add to that.

As everyone in the glee club started to discuss who they were going to be paired off with, Mr Shue spoke once more, "But but but! This time, instead of you all being paired off with the same people you normally do, I wanted to mix it up a bit" He said as he grabbed hold of what looked like a small container filled with small pieces of paper, "So, when I come round to each of you now, I want you to pick out a piece of paper from the box and read out who is going to be your duet partner for this week's assignment."

Jake heard people let out a sigh, Ryder being one of them, but he was more worried about the fact that there was now a 50/50 chance that he and Marley would be paired, which meant that they would have to spend the weekend together deciding on a song and rehearsing it. If this would have been a few weeks ago, Jake would have been relishing the idea of being alone with her and just enjoying her company, but now he was worried that his plan to keep his distance could all be going down the drain.

Kitty was first to pick out of the box. She unfolded her piece of paper and a smug smile slowly swept across her face, "Looks like me and cow girl Lynn are getting our Kyder on." She said as she looked over to the disappointed Ryder who gave Kitty a half hearted smile. Jake noticed Marley's face slightly hinder as Kitty spoke, and he was now practically pleading with himself to be paired up with the freshman girl.

"Take your pick jake" Mr Schue said as he gave the box a quick shuffle before offering it to him.

Jake slowly allowed his hand to rummage through the remaining pieces of paper until he came to a stop and pulled out one. He unfolded it in his hands and looked down at the name that was written down, the name that he so badly didn't want to be looking down at.

"Marley" He said whilst sighing and then turning his head to her, "Looks like it's you and me Rose."

Marley noticed Jake's not so enthusiastic reaction to them being paired up and wanted to question him there and then what his problem was. She knew he had been avoiding her for the past three days and she didn't know why. Was it because of the conversation they had Monday night? Was he just too interested in woo'ing Kitty that he didn't have time for her anymore? She couldn't think about all this now and knowing that they would be spending nearly the whole weekend together made her feel slightly uneasy.

"Let's do this Puckerman" she spoke giving him a smile.

* * *

Soon after everyone had been given a partner, it was time to go home. Ryder left the room with Kitty as they were engaged in a conversation about where and when they were going to rehearse leaving Marley and Jake the last to be leaving the room.

"So... I guess we should sort out when and where we can rehearse this song of ours?" Jake spoke as he slung his backpack over his shoulder and turning towards Marley.

"Yeah... My mom's going to be in pretty much all weekend so you could come to my place, but we'd have to rehearse in my room?" she said looking at him awkwardly. She felt her stomach churn slightly after hearing herself ask that question, Jake had of course been in her room before, but that was a long time ago, before Ryder, and before he had broken her heart.

"Well my mom's going away for the weekend on Friday night with some of her friends from work so we could just use my place? Save us being cooped up in one room. If that's okay with you and your mom of course..." Jake usually would have jumped at the chance of being alone with Marley in her room, _possibly_ singing some sort of romantic duet, but there was just too much temptation there.

"Yeah that's perfect actually, gives us more room and... stuff. Yeah my mom will be fine with it, she kinda loves you so she'll have no problems with that, as long as I don't stay of course, although I don't know why I would need to stay because I have my own bed, in my own room, in my own house and-"

Jake smiled to himself as he watched her begin to run away with her words. He placed both of his hands on her arms and spoke, "Marls chill... you're doing that thing where you blabber again." He finished with a laugh. He couldn't help himself, he knew this distance thing was going to be hard but this situation they were now in just made things basically impossible.

Marley felt the hairs on her arms stand up as goosebumps began to form where he was holding onto her. She swallowed down hard and shook her head out of embarrassment, "Sorry, I don't even know why I did that." She said letting out a weak laugh.

Jake dropped his arms back to his sides when he realised they had been lingering on her for a bit too long. He casually shrugged his shoulders and gave her a smirk, "Its fine, and any way I'll make sure you get home for whenever Millie needs you... so don't worry."

"Thanks Jake." Marley replied as she gathered her books that were set down on her seat, "Anyway I gotta go, so see you at your place after school tomorrow?" she asked, walking backwards to face him, waiting for his reply.

"My place after school... see you then Marls." He said, smiling as he watched the brunette walk out the room. This weekend was going to be _eventful. _

* * *

**Should have my next chapter up some time next week I just have a lot of work going on atm so everything is a bit hectic! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay so I guess I got a lot of Jarley feels from tumblr/twitter etc and decided to write this next chapter sooner rather than later! aaaand its my longest one so hope you enjoy!**

**Sorry if you think a new chapter is being posted! But I just had to change one of the song ideas! Sorry but the next chapter should be up soon :) **

* * *

Friday evening came sooner rather than later for Marley as she found herself hurryingly walking towards Jake Puckerman's house. It was freezing, and it was times like these when she wished she would have just learnt how to drive when her mom offered to pay even though Marley knew she couldn't afford it. It was also times like these when she wished her boyfriend would have given her one of his hoodies, but Ryder never seemed to offer which was weird to Marley because he was romantic and boyfriend like in every other way possible. She remembers back to the times when she would walk around McKinley wearing Jake's leather jacket and how she wore it with pride. She loved it as much on her than she did on him, she knew it was stupid but every time she wore it she couldn't help but feel safe.

Marley would be lying if she said she wasn't slightly nervous about tonight, because she was. She knew Jake had been avoiding her the past three days, she wasn't stupid, she knew he didn't just "accidentally" turn up to their science lessons late, but what she couldn't understand was why. Why had he been avoiding her? She turned the last corner and began walking up towards his house from the bottom of the street. She didn't understand why her stomach felt like it was doing flips, Ryder knew that she was going over to Jake's place and he was fine with it because Kitty was going over to his to rehearse (which made Marley slightly uneasy), so why did it feel like her anxiety was growing with every step further she got towards his house?

She stopped outside his door and lightly knocked three times as she waited for him to open the door.

"Hey you." he said as he opened the door with a smile on his face that instantly put Marley at ease once more

"Hey." She replied as Jake opened the door more and stepped to his side, allowing Marley to walk in. She felt like she hadn't been to his house in such a long time, she looked at the walls of the hallway as she made her way into his living room, smiling at all the baby pictures of Jake as she went by.

"So, uh, you can sit down if you want, I'm just gonna make myself a drink... want one?" Jake asked as he made his way to the kitchen

Marley was just about to reply before something caught her eye on top of the fireplace, she slowly sat up and walked towards it, taking the frame into her hands. It was a picture, of her and Jake, just before they went to the Sadie Hawkins dance. She remembers how excited her and Jakes mom both looked when they were taking the pictures of them at the bottom of Marley's stairs...

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

_They were stood at the bottom of Marley's stairs, Jakes left hand was wrapped around Marley's waist and they were smiling while her mom and Jake's were snapping away on their cameras. Marley bowed her head slightly and tried to hide her reddened face as Jake leaned into her and whispered,_

"_You look beautiful." She looked at him with a shy smile and mouthed the words 'Thank you' to him. She felt really good about herself, she couldn't think back to a time where she felt this confident. After everything that had happened a month earlier with her eating disorder and being the reason the glee club lost out at sectionals, it was fair to say that Marley still had some insecurities. But at this moment with Jake telling her she was beautiful, it all went away and all she could think about was sharing her first slow dance with the boy standing to the side of her._

"_Okay, enough of the serious prom pictures, let's get some goofy pictures of the two of you!" Jake's mom said _

"_Mom... please" Jake replied as he looked pleadingly towards his mom, begging her with his eyes not to embarrass him in front of Marley. Marley bowed her head again trying to hide the smirk and light giggle from Jake, she knew how he was with his whole "maintaining hi bad boy image", but she also knew that deep down, Jake Puckerman was a big softie._

"_Jacob Puckerman, you will do as I say or do you want me to get the pictures of you in the bath tub next time Marley come aro-"_

"_No,no,no,nope! It's fine... goofy pictures it is... let's do this Rose." Jake said as he turned towards Marley; pouted his lips and lightly placed it on her cheek._

_Marley's cheeks burned as she felt Jake's lips on her right cheek. They hadn't even had their first kiss yet, so in Marley's defence it was a normal reaction for her. She tried to hide her reaction by giving a big open mouthed smile as their mothers happily snapped away with their cameras once more._

**END OF FLASHBACK**

* * *

Marley gently smiled as she looked at the picture of the two of them goofing off to the camera. As much as she would care to admit at this point, Jake made her really happy. Marley would always have him to thank for her being the confident and self loving person she is today, because even though he may not have been as romantic as Ryder was, he made sure she felt beautiful every day they were together.

She was caught off guard as Jake walked back in asking her if she still wanted a drink. She turned round with the frame still in her hand as Jake stopped near the doorway,

"Oh... you were looking at that huh?" Jake said looking at the small frame Marley held in her hand.

"Yeah, I uh, saw it on the fireplace when I sat down and just wanted to take a look... I didn't know you still had pictures of that."

"Yeah well... its more my mom really. Uh I dunno, she just really liked that picture of the two of us so decided she'd get it framed..." He looked down at the glass of water he held in his hand feeling the situation growing more and more awkward by the second and wanting to diffuse it, "Weird... right?" He said laughing feebly.

Marley took one last look at the picture before putting it back where she found it and resuming to look at Jake, a smile forming on her face as he tried to make things less awkward, "Not weird... cute. I miss talking to your mom, I wish she was here so we could have a catch up." She replied smiling brightly at him. Jake's mom knew everything that had gone on with Marley all those years ago, and Marley remembers the nights when Jake used to fall asleep on the couch with his head on Marley's lap and she and his mom would sit and talk for a while about how she was doing.

"Yeah well, if she was here, then you know we would get nothing done because she would just sit there and get those dumb baby pictures out of me and you and her would tease me for the rest of the night." Jake said with a knowing smirk as he felt more at ease and took a seat on the couch.

Marley let out a soft laugh, "You say that like it's a bad thing. But you're right we wouldn't, so let's not dwell on that." She said as she sat down beside him, crossing one leg under the other, "So... what songs were you thinking Puckerman?"

"I was hoping you'd come up with that one Marls, you know you bring the brains and I bring the whole bad boy with the voice of an angel image" He replied as he mockingly gave Marley a smouldering look and gave her a wink

Marley scoffed and let out a laugh as she lightly pushed him away from her, "Oh is that so? Well you might wanna forget about the whole bad boy part, because I heard you lost that image a long time ago" she said with a teasing look

Jake faked a shock face and replied, "No way! Who said that? It is so not true! I still ride my razor scooter!"

Marley let out a loud laugh, she couldn't remember the last time her and jake acted like this, but she liked it... a lot, "I'm sorry Jake, I guess... your razor scooter and leather Jacket just aren't as intimidating as they used to be."

Jake laughed along with her, he couldn't help it, there was just something about her laugh that was so... infectious. "Well... damn. Guess I may as well just get rid of the two of them now then." He said as he laughter began to die off and he remembered what they were actually sat in his house for, "So, hit me with some of your amazing idea's for this awesome duet of ours Rose." Jake honestly couldn't remember why he spent the last three days avoiding her, it all seemed so stupid to him now how he was worried that the two of them being alone together could only end in trouble, but here they were sat inches away from each other and doing nothing but laughing and enjoying each others company.

Marley's laughter calmed as Jake's did, suddenly remembering that they got together in the first place to choose a song and not laugh and goof off. "Oh right yeah of course! Well I had sort of two in mind, but they're both kind of... well... love songs"

"Go on..." jake said looking at her

"Well do you know how hard it is to find a duet these days that isn't about love but two of the opposite sex sings? Well the answer to that is hard... soooo I come up with two... One is Everything has changed by taylor swift and ed sheeran." She paused and looked up from her lap to see his reaction

"Oh yeah, I think I know that one, it's a good song Marls" he said giving her a reassuring smile, knowing she was bound to be feeling uneasy being in this sort of situation with an ex boyfriend, "So what was the other one?"

Marley swallowed down hard as he asked her about the second song, she didn't want to answer him, the song was just too romantic for them to even be considering singing in front of her boyfriend and the girl jake likes even if she care less about the latter part. "Oh its um-it's... never mind, let's just go with that one, yeah?" She said as she went to reach down for her bag and pull out the song sheets.

Jake quickly took the hand that was reaching for her bag into both of his, the hairs on his arms immediately rising as their hands touched, he blinked softly as he felt the goosebumps form under his, thankfully sleeved covered arms. He wondered if she ever felt anything like he did every time they even slightly touched. He spoke softly trying to calm her, "Marley... chill. It's just a song okay? Just tell me what the second one was and we'll see whats what." He said now smiling at her.

She looked down at both their hands that were now overlapping one another as she felt her stomach do flips all over again. Why was she feeling like this? She felt giddy and child like every time he seemed to compliment her or touch her in any way which wasn't usually like her... well it was _very _much like the old her, but she left her old self behind a long time ago, she grew up and more importantly, she was with Ryder now. She cleared her throat as she gently brought her hands back into her own lap and spoke, "Well... it was, just a kiss by lady antebellum, you know them... right?"

Jake tried to hide his disappointment when Marley pulled her hand away from his, but it was expected so he shrugged it off and met her eyes with his own again, listening to her as she spoke.

"Yeah, I know them... and that song. But er Marls, you are sure Ryder won't mind me and you singing a love song right?"

"Yeah, I spoke to him before I got here about it, and I told him that there was a high chance it'd be a love song. But he knows we're just friends so he's cool with it. And besides, he said he thought him and Kitty probably will be to so..." Marley spoke, not realising that just because Ryder was cool with those two singing a romantic duet, didn't mean Jake was with him and Kitty singing one and as much as she didn't want to bring up Jake liking Kitty, she didn't want him getting jealous and causing a scene when they sang together on Monday. "That is okay with you right? Because Ryder knows how you feel about Kitty and he'd totally understand if you weren't okay with the two of them singing a song like that in front of you. I just thought that-"

"Marley I actually need to talk to you about that, I don't-" He interrupted her before she even finished her sentence, which was probably why karma came right back around and interrupted him back in the form of Marley's mobile phone ringing.

"Sorry, let me just get that," she said reaching into her jacket pocket and answering her phone

"Hey its me, me and Kitty just finished up. Are you and Jake done yet cause I would really like to see my girlfriend." Said Ryder down the phone as Marley gave a weak smile when she heard who it was

"Yeah I think we're pretty much done here" She said as she looked up towards Jake and right back down again. She didn't want to have to sit there and listen to him talk about his feelings for a girl who she still didn't like all that much, so Ryder ringing and asking to see her was perfect timing for her.

Jake couldn't hide his disappointment this time; he clenched his jaw and swallowed hard, diverting his gaze away from Marley and taking it aimlessly to the glass of water he had left on the table in front of them. He wanted to tell her that he had no feelings for Kitty, he wanted to tell her that it was all in her head. He didn't even know why she'd care but he felt that he needed to tell her, but the time had passed and he was now faintly listening to her end of the conversation she was currently having with his best friend.

"I'll be over soon okay? Bye." Marley finished as she ended the call and placed her phone back in her pocket. She looked at Jake who was now looking away and seemed to be staring into space, she looked around awkwardly waiting for him to say something. When he never she took it upon herself to speak, "So, that was Ryder. He and Kitty are done for the night so I'm gonna head over there now..." She said waiting for him to reply

Jake honestly didn't want to say anything, but he knew it was getting late and it was dark outside and there was no way in hell Marley was walking to Ryder's on her own. He let out a sigh and sat himself up, "Well I better go get my keys cause there's no way you're walking there on your own." He stood up and walked over to the dining room table grapping his car keys and walking towards the front door,

"Let's go Marls."

Marley didn't even have time to protest, not that it would have done much difference because Jake still wouldn't have let her go alone. She hurriedly stood up and followed him out of the door and headed towards the car.

* * *

The car journey was mostly silent, apart from times when jake would catch Marley humming along to a song on the radio which had him trying to hide his stupid smile by looking out his window. They had soon arrived at Ryder's house where Jake pulled up just outside and turned the engine off. He turned to Marley with a smile on his face and spoke, "You've reached your destination... now get out." He said jokingly with a smirk on his face

Marley laughed, relieved that he wasn't upset with her for some reason. She faked a shock face and spoke, "Say how you really feel why don't you!"

"I'm kidding... I had fun tonight Marls" He said with a smile on his face

"I did too jake..." she went to carry on, but she suddenly remembered how she wanted to ask him about him avoiding her for the past three days. She figured getting it over and done with now will only help them tomorrow and when they perform, "Can I ask you something though?"

"Anything..."

"Why were you avoiding me these past couple of days? And don't say you weren't because I know you Jake and _I know_ you were avoiding me."

_Shit. _He thought. What was he going to tell her? There would be no point lying to her because she could always tell when he was lying, just like he could with her. But it wasn't the time to tell her, or the place. He was supposed to be forgetting about them like that and working on their friendship. He swallowed hard and scratched the back of his neck, "Um, I was just having one of those weeks Marls, that's all... you know how I get." He looked away from her nervously, not entirely sure whether or not she'd buy it.

She wasn't sure whether or not he was telling the truth and sat in the front seat of his car outside Ryder's wasn't the place to begin to delve into that conversation either. "O-okay, well you know I'm here whenever you... get like that, don't shut me out Jake okay?" She said placing one hand on his arm to try and comfort him without having to get too close.

He looked at her hand on his arm and then back at her. Clearing his throat he began to speak, "Yeah Marley... of course." He replied with a soft smile. He looked at the digital clock in his car and realised that they had been parked outside Ryder's for at least ten minutes, "Oh crap, Marls you better get going otherwise lover boy will be starting to get worried."

Marley noticed the time and her eyes widened, "Oh right yeah! Ryder! I better get going... uhhh, same time same place tomorrow? We'll rehearse the songs this time?" She said whilst stepping out the car and leaning down waiting for his reply

"Same time, same place! See you there Marls." He said as she closed the car door and he watched her lightly run over to Ryder's front door where she was immediately greeted with a hug and a kiss. Jake turned his head slightly and bit his top lip not wanting to see the two of them like that. He started his car back up, gave Ryder a smile and a nod as he began driving away from the house and looking back at Marley through his rear view mirror before moving his eyes back onto the road and driving off.

Marley watched as Jake drove off, her eyes not leaving the car until it was out of sight. She sighed softly as Ryder draped his arms around her and lead her into his house closing the door. She didn't quite understand what was going on with her and Jake, all she knew is that she was worryingly looking forward to them rehearsing tomorrow as the night went on.


	6. Chapter 6

**Here's chapter 6! Hope you enjoy! **

**PS, Who's excited for Glee tonight?!**

**disclaimer: I don't own any of the songs again... unfortunately :')**

* * *

It was a Saturday evening and Jake Puckerman found himself sat on his couch flicking through the channels aimlessly as he awaited the arrival of Marley Rose. He hoped that this time, they'd be able to get through the night without any interruptions, mainly because he wanted to get the duet song sorted out Jake told himself. Something about the two of them last night was different, it seemed light... easy, he thought, they hadn't been like that since, well sophomore year when they were together. Jake was never usually one to admit to himself these sort of things, but he was actually excited to seeing her again. He knew it was wrong to feel the way he did about her, especially because he valued his friendship with Ryder, but what was scaring Jake the most was that he was slowly realising that those feelings that he had repressed for the last two years were slowly climbing their way back up again and they were a lot stronger than he would have ever imagined.

* * *

It was a little past 9 o'clock and Jake had woken up from what must have been a nap by the faint knocking on his living room window. He sat up dazedly and pulled back his curtains to see Marley beckoning him to open the door from outside his house. Jake gave a smirk and headed towards the door.

"You're late." He said as he opened the door trying to sound serious but unable to mask his smile as he seen her face.

"I know, I know and I'm sorry, it's just I was with Ryder and we sorta got into a fight and I just - I just."

Jake placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a smile, clearly she was stressed out over whatever the two of them argued about, "Hey hey, marls, I was just kidding alright?"

And there he goes again, giving her goosebumps whenever he touched her, Marley thought as she stepped into the house and gave Jake an apologetic smile, "I know... but I am sorry I know we really need to figure out which song to sing."

"It's not a problem, Ryder is more important... I get it." Jake said without even realising, his eyes widened a bit, hoping she would not have caught on to the jealousy in his voice. He quickly moved on, "Anyway... go take a seat and I'll get us a drink, you hungry?"

Marley furrowed her eye brows after hearing Jakes comment about Ryder, was that _jealousy _she detected in his voice? She thought to herself, was he jealous? No, he couldn't be he liked Kitty so why would he even think twice about her now? More to the point she thought, why was she so concerned about it? He trail of thought broke when Jake spoke again as Marley turned towards him whilst walking into the living room, "A drink would be nice, but I ate earlier so I'm good." She said as she sat down and waited for him to come back with their drinks. Her phone was beeping like crazy; she took it out her pocket to see she had two texts and a miss call from Ryder.

'_All I wanted was for us to have a night in together. I feel like we haven't been us in a while.' –Ryder_

'_If you need me, I'll be at Kitty's rehearsing. Sorry.' –Ryder_

Marley sighed and bit on her bottom lip slightly before texting back

'_Have fun. I'm sorry too.' –Marley_

In all honesty, Marley didn't know what she was even apologising for when Ryder was the one who started it all. Jake walked back in just as Marley was putting her phone back into her pocket.

"Apple juice for the lady." He said as he set her drink down onto the table in front of her and sitting beside her on the couch, taking a sip of his drink and continuing to speak, "So, are you okay? I mean, with Ryder an everything?" He could tell she was upset about being late and clearly about whatever had went on between her and Ryder before she arrived at his.

"Yeah... I'm fine, he apologised, its fine." Marley replied as she leaned over to take her drink from the table and began to drink from it.

"Sooo what happened? Argument over who had the best hair?" Jake said as he lightly nudged his elbow into Marley's side in an attempt to cheer her up

Marley let out a weak laugh as Jake attempt clearly worked. No matter how down she was feeling, he always seemed to be the one that was there to pick her back up in one way or another. "No, unfortunately not. It... it doesn't matter what it was about, really it was silly." She lied. The argument wasn't silly, it was very much serious, but Marley didn't really feel too comfortable telling Jake that Ryder and she had an argument because of Marley having to leave to come here.

"Of course it matters Marls, you're upset and you shouldn't have to bottle everything up all the time. I know Ryder's my bro and all, but you can talk to me y'know." Jake said as he turned his body completely towards her giving her his full attention. He had to resist the urge to take her hand like he did last night, he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable again.

Marley let out a sigh and ran her hands through her hair as Jake spoke and turned himself towards her, she knew that he wouldn't let this go until she told him. She turned round to face him and regretted it immediately as she was looking into those big brown eyes that never failed to make her stomach flutter every time they were on her.

"Well... we kinda had an argument because I had to come here... but I told him before this weekend that I was going to be spending most of my time here because of the duet and stuff and then he was yelling saying that he doesn't feel like we're even together anymore and-and." Marley couldn't carry on, she felt the lump in her throat rise and the water in her eyes gathering until tears began to form. She felt so confused about everything that was going on right now. She didn't want to be arguing with Ryder, but she couldn't help but think that everything he had said was right and that they were acting different lately, and then there was her and Jake who also had been acting a lot different lately and Marley couldn't understand that why whenever she was around this boy, all those walls she put back up after him, were crumbling down all over again.

Jake reacted off instinct. He pulled her to his chest and into a tight hug. He didn't know what to say to her, all he wanted was for her to stop crying, to stop hurting. He spoke lightly as her hands formed a tight grip into his t-shirt, "Listen Marls, we don't have to do all this rehearsing you know that right? We could just pick a song and do it on a whim on Monday. That way you can go back to Ryder's in like 10-15 minutes?" he said as one of his hands relaxed itself by her waist.

Marley lifted her head from his chest to look at him as soon as he spoke her hands now resting on his chest "No... no. We need to rehearse this Jake, and besides he's gone to Kitty's now anyway, she's probably trying to seduce him while we speak." She finished with a weak laugh.

Jakes gave a weak smile as he spoke in almost a whisper, "Well I don't think Ryder is stupid enough to let go of someone like you..." He finished.

Jake moved his eyes down to Marley's lips, and then back up to her eyes. He grazed his tongue against his bottom lip slightly as he suddenly felt them getting closer and closer until he came to a stop, but Marley was still moving closer to him. He tightened his grip on her waist and closed his eyes; he felt Marley's warm breath against his lips.

Marley didn't know what she was doing; all she knew was that she couldn't help it, like she was being pulled towards him like a magnet or something. She could feel Jake's heart pounding into his chest as they got closer which only made Marley's chest flutter more and more. They were inches apart with their eyes closed, Marley parted her lips ever so slightly as jakes grip on her waist tightened and-

Suddenly the loud beeping noise of what could only have been the cooker broke them apart. Marley's breath hitched as she quickly opened her eyes and pulled herself back from Jake's grip. Jake stood straight up from the couch and looked around the room, trying to gather his thoughts about what _might _have just happened.

"Uhh... uhhhh..." He mumbled as he continued to look around

"Jake... it's the cooker?" Marley spoke as she helplessly watched him looking around for the noise that was coming from the kitchen.

"The cooker?... The cooker! Right yeah, I uh-I made some pizza, for myself... and you... if you want. I'll just go an get it." He said as he hurriedly walked out into the kitchen while swearing under his breath.

As soon as jake left the room, Marley let out a loud sigh whilst running her hands through her hair and leaning into the couch. What had just happened? How did she go from crying about her and Ryder, to almost kissing Jake Puckerman? She wanted to bury her face into the pillow beside her and scream. Why was she feeling like this all over again? Like she was drawn to him. She swore to herself after that day on the bleachers that she'd never go back there... or with him.

Jake slammed his fist slightly on to the kitchen work top in frustration. His heart was still pounding through his chest. He felt conflicted, a part of him wanted to kick himself for almost kissing her and the other part wanted to just walk back into that room and kiss her for real. It was like his heart and his brain were battling it out with one another and Jake didn't know which one he wanted to win. He walked back into the room as he seen her grabbing her bag and coat to leave.

"Marley... I'm sorry okay? You don't have to leave. It won't happen again." He said as he put the plate of pizza to one side and walked towards her pleadingly

She couldn't look at him when he spoke, she felt too embarrassed by everything that had just happened, "Jake you have nothing to be sorry for. I'm the one in the relationship, not you... it's my fault." She said as she began walking towards the door.

Jake stepped in front of her to stop her, he couldn't have her putting all the blame on herself for this, "It was neither of our faults okay? You were just upset over Ryder, your emotions were mixed up... it was a mistake. I was just... well that doesn't matter but the important thing is, is that nothing happened and nothing is going to happen okay? So just chill."

Marley was amazed at how his words could always make her feel so alive and so calm. She breathed out a sigh of relief when she realised that Jake wasn't going to blame her either, she gave him an apologetic smile and spoke, "Are you sure, because I can go if you really want me to, we don't have to do this. Like you said we can just wing it on Monday..."

"Marls, I'm sure. It was nothing, we never did anything." He knew what he said was a lie because it wasn't nothing. He felt it even if they didn't kiss; he felt that pull between them. But he didn't want to make her feel like she did something wrong.

"Yeah, it was... nothing." She smiled back, but couldn't help but feel like she was lying to him, and too herself.

"Right... so let's get this pizza ate and get down to work!" He said as he turned her around and walked with her back into the living room.

* * *

It wasn't long before the plate that was holding the pizza was empty, and Jake and Marley were back talking as if nothing had happened, and discussing their favourite superheroes.

Jake was laughing along with Marley, "I cannot _believe _Spiderman is your favourite superhero Marls, you're such a girl... he has nothing on Batman."

"Hey!" Marley said hitting him playfully and continuing to laugh, "No need to bring gender into this game Puckerman and besides, Spiderman's suit is awesome."

"Oh please, you're just saying that because you like to see Andrew Garfield in that suit" He replied teasingly.

"Fair point..." Marley said as they continued to laugh. Jake always knew that Marley was the only girl he could properly be himself and laugh like this around but the fact that it was happening a lot more these days than it had in a while made Jake even more happier. Suddenly his mind went back to the day before when Kitty was brought up. He still had not been able to tell her that there were no feelings like that for Kitty with him anymore. He wanted to tell her because he felt like every time she was brought up, Marley went cold with him and he didn't know why.

The laughter slowly died down and Jake took that as his opportunity to bring it up, "So uh, about yesterday when you asked me if I'd be ok with Ryder and Kitty singing because of how I apparently feel..." He waited for her reaction before carrying on.

Marley suddenly became ridged; she sat herself up properly and pushed her hair behind her ears, pretending to not seem really interested about the conversation, "Mhm?" She felt sick. If he was going to pour his heart out about Kitty to her, she knew she wouldn't be able to stand to listen to it. How could she listen to her ex talk about someone she _really_ didn't like?

Jake bit his bottom lip and stayed sat into the couch slightly more than her so he was looking at the back of her head, "Well, I've been wanting to talk to you about that. I uh... I really d-"

"Just stop Jake! I can't listen to this okay?" She said standing up trying her hardest not shout. She started to feel a lump in her throat as she tried to clear it.

Jake was confused, he didn't understand why she didn't want to listen to what he had to say, he sat up and looked at her, "What do you mean you can't listen to it? I was only gon-"

"I think we should rehearse one of the songs now." She said bluntly as she rummaged through her bag and blinking back the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes. She pulled out the first set of music sheets she could find and handed one to him.

Jake sighed taking hold of the sheet and standing up, "Fine, but we're talking about this after we've rehearsed."

Marley ignored Jakes comment and began to clear her throat. She looked down to the music sheet she had picked up, and suddenly felt extremely nervous about the song they were about to sing, "Um we'll have to sing this acapella, because I haven't brought the backing track with me."

Jake was to annoyed to indulge too much into the conversation, he bit the side of his cheek and looked at his music sheet, "Yeah, fine."

_**[Marley]**__ Lying here with you so close to me  
it's hard to fight these feelings when it feels so hard to breathe  
Caught up in this moment  
caught up in your smile_

Jake, as per usual watched in awe of her as Marley began to sing. All of his frustrations with her were now draining away with every lyric she was singing. He was so caught up in her voice that he almost missed his own cue.

_**[Jake]**__ I've never opened up to anyone  
So hard to hold back when I'm holding you in my arms  
__**[Both]**__ We don't need to rush this  
Let's just take it slow  
_

_**[Both]**__ Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight  
Just a touch of the fire burning so bright  
No, I don't wanna mess this thing up  
I don't wanna push too far  
Just a shot in the dark that you just might  
Be the one I've been waiting for my whole life  
So baby I'm alright  
With just a kiss goodnight_

There was something so meaningful and powerful about this song, that it drew them both in. They had both went from two feet apart, to inches from each other, both of them beaming at each other as they reached the chorus. Jake's urges kicked in as he suddenly felt pulled into taking her hand into his, but he resisted the urge for now.

Marley wasn't even thinking about anything other than this song, them and staring into those brown eyes that melted her on many occasion. She loved the sound of his voice and this song seemed to suit them perfectly and in more ways than one she thought. Marley always knew there was chemistry between the two of them, after all they did date. But something was happening to them right now that was unexplainable to her. She was suddenly feeling all these raw emotions that she thought she had left behind as she began to sing again.

_**[Marley]**__ I know that if we give this a little time  
It'll only bring us closer to the love we wanna find  
It's never felt so real  
__**[Jake]**__ No it's never felt so right_

Just before Marley finished singing and Jake started again, his instincts took over him again and he grapped hold of Marley's left hand and pulled them closer, resting his forehead against her own. Marley couldn't protest, something in her body was telling her to let it be, that it felt right and she let it take over her. Marley closed her eyes as they both reached the final chorus.

_**[Both]**__ Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight  
Just a touch of the fire burning so bright  
No, I don't wanna mess this thing up  
I don't wanna push too far  
Just a shot in the dark that you just might  
Be the one I've been waiting for my whole life  
So baby I'm alright  
With just a kiss goodnight..._

The song had come to a stop when both Jake and Marley had crashed their lips to each others. Jake's hands were holding firmly onto Marley's waist, while hers were curled up at the top of Jake's chest and gripping tightly onto the fabric of his shirt. Marley's head was spinning; the kiss had started off sweet and gentle, but had slowly built up into this intense and euphoric kiss that Marley had never experienced before. It was like everything was literally pouring out, all their emotions were being let out into this one kiss and not for one second did Marley want to stop.

It'd all happened so fast that Jake hadn't even had time to think anything through, and now wasn't the time when he was going to. He brought one of his hands to the side of her face and pushed her slightly against the wall near them. The kiss deepened as Jake hungered for more. He knew that this wouldn't last forever, that Marley would soon come to her senses and stop it, but right now he was making sure every minute of it lasted.

Marley let out a slight gasp as her back gently hit the wall behind her and their kiss deepened. Her hands moved around his back as one of them slipped under his t-shirt and she brought it back around, feeling her fingers against the creases of Jake's abs.

Suddenly though, the thought of Ryder finally reached Marley and with no warning she gently pushed Jake away from her as she broke the kiss. Breathing heavily, they both stood there trying to comprehend what had just happened.

"That-That shouldn't have happened Jake." Marley spoke, still pacing her breaths

Jake knew there was no going back, he had already kissed her. A powerful, electrifying kiss, and he wasn't about to let her shake it off and pretend like it never happened. "Well it did Marley, and it felt amazing and you know it did."

Marley looked at him confused, why was he saying this? He likes Kitty, so why does he sound like he's trying to tell me something?

"W-What? I don't, I don't know anything Jake! All I know was it was a mistake and I'm with Ryder an... and you like Kitty so can we just forget this ev-"

"I don't like Kitty!" Jake shouted interrupting Marley

"What? Yes you do! You sang the song for her at glee and you were looking at her when you were singing it an-"

Jake walked over and took her hands into his, pulling them into his chest, speaking softly and looking deep into her big blue eyes, "No Marls... no. That song was about _you_, I was looking at _you_. I glanced at Kitty because we had a conversation about something before it and it was relevant that's all. I don't like Kitty... I like _you. _A lot and it's been that way for the past two years."

Marley was in disbelief. He liked her all along and not Kitty? But why? Why did he break up with her? Why did he break her heart if he still had feelings for her? Why did he push her away? To Ryder? She felt the tears form in her eyes again as she began to shake her head against his words. Whatever she felt for Jake, and that kiss, she didn't want her heartbroken again, not by him. She couldn't allow herself to let him break those walls down only so he could build them all up again himself. She blinked back her tears and cleared her throat as she spoke again,

"I uh... I gotta go Jake." She said in almost a whisper as she tried to keep her voice from breaking. She pulled her hands away from his chest and began walking towards the door, picking up her bag and coat along the way.

He ran after her to try and stop her again, "Marls... please don't do this. I know I hurt you, I know I did and I hate myself for it, but please... don't walk away from this." He could feel himself losing her all over again. He wished he could turn back time, and go back to that day on the bleachers and change it all. Maybe they wouldn't be stood here like this now. Maybe they'd have been happy.

Marley went to turn around but stopped as she realised that looking at him would only make this situation harder than it already was. Her tears began to fall down her face as she hitched her breath to clear her voice and spoke, "I can't... I gotta go."

And with that, he watched her walk out the door. He wanted to tell her to come back, to run after her, but he was glued to that spot and he couldn't do anything. He had lost her again.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for taking so long with this, had a lot of work that needs to be caught up on! This chapter is mainly from Marley's POV but some of it is in Jake's. Enjoy!**

* * *

Marley woke up the next day with her head pounding after crying herself to sleep the night before. She checked her phone and seen that she had two text messages from jake and a missed call from Ryder. She sighed as she sat up in her bed to read the two texts.

'_I'm not sorry for what happened, I felt something and I know you did too. Just please don't shut me out again. –Jake'_

'_Ryder's my bro and I think we should tell him what happened. We both know what happens when people delay the truth. –Jake'_

She couldn't reply to his texts right now, she didn't want to have to deal with the feelings she knew she felt again, but she knew his second text was right and Ryder did deserve to know about the kiss. Marley couldn't help but think that the end of Jake's second text was almost a dig at her, she always suspected that Ryder kissing her had something to do with Jake breaking up with her, even though he was adamant that it wasn't. She then turned her attention onto the missed call she got off her boyfriend. Marley bit her lip as began ringing Ryder back, there was no way she was going to tell him over the phone but she knew that once she heard his voice, all her guilt would come rushing back.

"Hey, I tried calling you last night. Where were you?" She heard his voice down the end of her mobile

"Hi ry... yeah sorry about that I was just... really tired after rehearsing that's all. How was rehearsing with Kitty?" Marley replied leaning her head against the headboard of her bed.

"Jake work you up then I guess? Yeah it was alright, we're singing a really up beat song so it's a good job Kitty's a good dance teacher, otherwise I'd just be doing my endzone dance moves." Ryder replied with a slight chuckle.

Marley's eyes widened at Ryder's question, obviously he didn't know but at the time the question was really inappropriate, she swallowed hard as she spoke, "What? No, why would he work me up? Oh well yeah that's good." She didn't know what to say to him, hearing him laugh only made her feel ten times worse over everything, she couldn't tell him what happened, she couldn't look at his face and tell him that his best friend and her had kissed the night before and that she was now more confused than ever about everything.

"I meant with the song Marley?" Ryder said and Marley could hear the questioning behind his voice which made her even more nervous.

She tried to play it cool as she replied, "Yeah? It was just a song, you know I don't get _that_ bad over singing." She finished with a nervous laugh.

There was a slight pause which to Marley felt like a decade, before Ryder spoke again, "No I know that, I meant... Never mind, it doesn't matter. So I'll be at Kitty's most of the day and I'm assuming you'll be at Jakes, so whaddya say we meet up later tonight?"

"Um, yeah... I'll be at jakes," she lied, she had no intentions of going back to his house where they would be alone but she knew if she told Ryder she wasn't going, he'd know something was up. She carried on, "Actually Ry can we meet somewhere now real quick, I just need to talk to you about something?"

"Umm yeah... sure. You can come round here while I clean up my room a little bit?"

"Yeah... I'll be over in ten." Marley ended as she hung up, speaking to him just made it so much harder for her to keep what happened from him, she had to tell him sooner rather than later.

Marley sighed as she dropped her phone back on the bed and buried her face into her hands in frustration. She was still unsure of what her feelings for the two boys were. She knew that on paper, Ryder was obviously the better choice for her, he was safe, kind hearted and your classic all American boy. Then there was Jake who was unpredictable and instinctive and was not the type of boy you would bring home to your mom because of his 'bad boy' facade _(even though Marley's mom seemed to adore him),_ which Marley knew was exactly that. They were practically polar opposites, yet she found herself torn between the two, whether to stay with the boy who she'd be safe with, or to drop everything and go back to the boy she had _always _been drawn to, but who had broken her heart.

Marley sighed as she pulled on her jacket, grapped her keys and her phone and headed down the stairs and out the door towards Ryder's house.

* * *

When she had arrived at Ryder's, he greeted her with a kiss on the cheek and they headed upstairs so Ryder could carry on cleaning his room. Marley sat on the end of his bed playing with her hands as she watched him move around his room.

"So, whats up? Why did you need to come here so early?" He asked smiling as he began picking up clothes from his floor and placing them into his wardrobe.

Marley gulped down hard as she tried to gather all her thoughts, she knew he wouldn't take this well and the outcome of it remained unsure to her, "Can you just sit down for a second? I need to speak to you." She said whilst moving over slightly along the bed to make more room for him.

Ryder stopped as Marley spoke and she could tell by the falter in his smile that he knew something was wrong. He sat down besides her, facing straight as he spoke again, "So, what do you wanna talk about?"

Marley bit down on her bottom lip and looked to the floor as she spoke again, "So... last night, when me and Jake were rehearsing..." She stopped as she looked at him, his head hung and nodding slightly,

"Yeah... go on."

"Well uh, we were singing one of our song choices and-and..." Her voice was sounding shaky and she could feel the lump in her throat beginning to form. Ryder was blank; expressionless which only made things much harder for her. She cleared her voice as she gave a sharp inhale and spoke again, "and we kissed."

Ryder's face remained the same as he sighed slightly and began nodding his head. She didn't know what to do, what to tell him so she waited for him to speak.

"Right, well uh I really gotta go Marley, Kitty's gonna be expecting me at hers soon so." He finally spoke as he stood up from his bed and stopping at his door and looking down towards the floor.

Marley's brows furrowed in his response, she was confused, did he not care? Where they still together? She got up and stopped just before the door looking towards Ryder, "So where does that leave us then Ry? What happens now?"

He still wasn't looking at her which she couldn't help but find slightly annoying. She thought she'd at least have gotten some sort of response off him, Ryder was always one for talking things out instead of just walking away, something felt different this time and evidently she wasn't the only one who felt it too.

"I-I'm just gonna go to Kittys... we'll talk later, okay?" He said still looking down to the floor. Marley decided to not press him on the matter and just let him be, she sighed in defeat and walked out of his room, down the stairs and out the door feeling as though the confession hadn't helped a thing.

* * *

It was around 7pm in the evening, and Jake had spent most of his day playing games. He figured shooting zombies would be a way to take his mind off of Marley and their kiss... it was a failed attempt. He was interrupted by a phone call, which he immediately rushed to, in hopes that it would be Marley finally replying to his texts. He was disappointed when he saw the name flashing across his phone screen as he answered.

"Puck... What's up bro?"

"Heyyyy lil bro with the afro! How's things?"

Jake sighed and ran his free hand along the back of his neck, "Things are... alright, you know same old lima, same old McKinley. How's L.A?"

"Aw dude L.A is awesome, I swear you need to come visit with me again, I haven't seen you in so long bro, Quinn misses you too."

Jake smiled as he heard Puck speak about L.A and Quinn, he was glad his brother was finally settled down with the person he truly loved. "Tell her I miss her too, and yeah I'll come down when I'm uh free and stuff."

"Okay I'll give in, what's up?"

"What do you mean whats up?"

"Well usually when I ask you to come down to L.A to see your insanely awesome brother, and his even more awesome girlfriend, you sound a lot happier."

Jake sat down on the end of his bed and leaned back, he didn't want to bother Puck with all his problems with Marley, but he knew he'd be the only one that'd completely understand, he sighed and spoke again, "Fine... its Marley."

"What? You finally tell her you've been in love with her for the past three years?"

"What?! No! I didn't... look we kissed alright."

"So? Dude since when was kissing a girl a bad thing?"

"Since she's dating your best friend"

"What? Bieber?"

"Ryder."

"Whatever... look you love this girl okay? You might not have admitted it yourself yet but I live in freaking L.A and I can even see it. So you need to man up and let her know, because take it from me, once she's gone you might not ever get her back."

Jake gulped hard as he heard Puck talk about him being in love with Marley. He knew he was, he admitted it to himself a long time ago which only made things worse for him. "Okay but what about Ryder? He's my boy and the whole reason me and Marley broke up in the first place was because he's a lot better for her than I am."

"Talk to him. Tell him how you feel about her, and dude he may seem better for her, but you're a Puckerman so that's practically impossible. If Marley didn't still have feelings for you and did for him, that kiss wouldn't have happened bro. What did I tell you three years ago?"

"Don't be a dick and don't give up." Jake said as he stared at the ceiling. He knew Puck was right, he had to tell her, he had to lay it all out on the table to her and just hope that she'd come back to him. He couldn't carry on with all the 'what if's' he had been holding onto. It was now or never for him and he didn't want to lose out on someone he was so deeply in love with.

"Puck, I gotta go! Give Quinn my love and I'll see you soon yeah?"

"Alright bro, go do what you gotta do! See ya."

Jake knew what he had to do. He quickly grapped his car keys and pulled on his jacket as he hurriedly ran down the stairs and out of his house.

* * *

Marley hadn't moved from her couch since she came back from Ryder's. She found herself aimlessly flicking through all of her television channels and ending up watching numerous pointless documentaries. She hadn't spoken to Jake since last night or Ryder since she left his house. Marley felt entirely alone, which you would have thought would have made her at least begin to digest everything that had happened and try to clear up her feelings for the two boys, but she didn't want to even begin to delve into it. It was around 9pm when she heard her doorbell ringing over and over again, her mom was out so she supposed it'd only be her returning home, but was taken aback to see the boy standing in front of her as she opened the door.

"Jake?"

"Hey Marls, can I come in?" He asked her with those big brown puppy dog like eyes she found so hard to say no too, but she knew exactly what would happen if she allowed him to come inside, and she didn't want to add more fuel to this already blazing fire. She bit the inside of her cheek and spoke again,

"I uh... I don't think it's a good time Jake, not with everything that happened last night." She so badly wanted to let him in and to just sit and be with him but she knew it wouldn't help anything right now.

"I thought you might say that" he said as he nodded his head slightly and stood up straight from where he was leaning on the door frame, "...and in that case I'm just gonna have to ask you to be quiet for a second while I speak, can you do that for me?"

Marley was shocked by his abruptness, something in his eyes told her that he was pretty determined to tell her whatever he had to say so she didn't want to stop him, "O-Okay..."

Jake sighed and clapped his hands together before speaking again, "Right, okay..." his eyes moved from the floor to meet her own, "I love you Marley Rose. I've loved you since I first sang with you, three years ago on the bleachers, and I loved you when we broke up and after that. I love you right now, and I know I will love for as long as I can imagine, and I know that deep down inside you love me back. I can feel it Marls, I felt it last night when we kissed and I can feel it now. I'm not giving up on this Marley, because you're it for me."

Marley was just staring at him, trying to take everything he had just said in and absorb it; she brought herself out of his gaze and cleared her throat, "Jake... I-"

He grabbed hold of her right arm as he interrupted her, "Shh, you don't have to say anything now okay? Just... think about it. I'll see you tomorrow Marls." He said with a slight smile on his face as she watched him turn away from her and towards his car, the shocked look remaining on her face until he drove away and eventually she closed the door.

She sat herself down and tried to control her heart that was racing through her chest. Jake Puckerman had just turned up at her front door and confessed his love for her. Jake Puckerman who never labelled things and who had a hard time with big romantic gestures had just done something that Marley has only ever seen be done in films, and as much as she hated it, she couldn't wipe the smile that was slowly but surely spreading across her face. She wanted to ring Jake and tell him to come back, not that she'd know what to say to him at all, but she just wanted to be around him, speak to him, laugh with him. She was now sat there trying to remember why she kept her guard up around him for so long, how had she not noticed that he was in love with her this whole time? Why didn't he tell her sooner?

All she was sure of now was that she hadn't felt this happy in a long time, she was surprised that Jake's confession didn't just make things worse for her situation, that instead it just made things a lot more clearer for her. The duet's were going to happen tomorrow and Marley was pretty sure she'd tell him after glee club was over.

* * *

_**I kinda feel like the ending of this chapter was awful, but I was typing it up really late on in the night so I do apologies! Hope you all liked it and chapter 8 will be up soon :) **_


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay so half way through writing this chapter I realised I didn't really explain in the other chapters how these two would come about to sing the song they sing in this chapter. So to just clear things up, Marley didn't want to sing Just a Kiss because of well what happened the last time they did so they both mutually decided to go with their second choice without rehearsing might I add. I know that is sucky writing of me and I probably will go back and eventually add it in but atm I just have a lot of stuff going on so it won't be my number 1 priority right now! Sorry for any confusion guys and hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Also againnnn I don't own the song that I used but I'm sure you all know that haha!**

* * *

Monday came all too quickly for Marley after what could have only been described as a whirlwind of a weekend. One good thing did however come out of it, and that was that she was now one hundred percent sure who she wanted to be with. Even though that was cleared up, Marley still couldn't help but feel nervous about everything; about the duet later with Jake, speaking to Ryder and even just seeing both of them in general made her stomach churn, both in very different ways.

She had spent most of her school day with Unique who had been trying her best to constantly keep Marley's mind away from the two boys to which Marley had been grateful for, even if it didn't entirely work. To her own surprise, she hadn't seen neither Jake nor Ryder for the whole day, but she knew that practice was right after lunch meaning she would be seeing the both of them in less than an hour.

* * *

Jake decided to leave for lunch early so he could grab his guitar and go to the choir room to tune it up before his and Marley's performance. He could honestly say that for the first time in a while, Jake was genuinely excited to be performing in front of the glee club. He knew everything with him and Marley was a little bit 50/50 at the moment, but he meant what he said to her last night, he would never stop loving her whether or not she'd ever love him back.

As Jake walked into the choir room, he realised that he wasn't the only one with the idea of getting there early. He looked down to the floor and set his guitar to one side as he walked further in with his hands awkwardly in his pockets.

"Hey man." He said as Ryder lifted his head up from his comic book and gave Jake a blank stare, quickly looking back down to his comic before replying,

"Hey."

Jake knew right there that Marley had told Ryder everything. He stood awkwardly in the middle of the room before letting out a loud sigh and sitting himself down next to his best friend.

"Look, I'm sorry okay? I know I was way out of line for kissing Marley the other night, and believe me if there was any other way around it, I would have taken it bu-but at the time there wasn't, or at least there didn't seem to be, and you kissed her first remember when I was with her so-" He honestly didn't know why he thought that was a good enough argument for him kissing Marley but he panicked, he didn't want to lose his best friend over something like this,

"So what? It was payback for three years ago Jake?!" He could see Ryder's face grow angrier after his comment; he knew he had to explain.

"No no! That's not what I meant I... Look I don't even know why I brought that up alright? It's in the past." He blew out a sigh, he knew he had to tell Ryder what was really going on, maybe then he'd understand. He carried on speaking, "Look Ryder, I'm in love with her okay? I have been since we broke up, and honestly? I don't think it's gonna go away any time soon."

"And does Marley know this?"

"Yeah... I told her last night."

"And what did she say?"

"She didn't say anything, I told her not too... look dude I know it must bum you out hearing me tell you that, but I don't want us to be like last time you know?" Jake looked hopefully towards Ryder who was staring ahead of him and not looking towards Jake.

He heard Ryder let out a slight sigh and bow his head slightly before he spoke again, "Yeah... me neither." He turned towards Jake and gave him a weak smile before carrying on, "But we have to make a deal okay?"

"Shoot..."

"Whoever Marley chooses we have to accept it and just move on okay? No fighting, no kissing her behind the others back. We just leave it alone... okay?"

Jake inhaled deeply as he listened to Ryder's words, he knew that if Marley were to choose him then that deal would be perfect. But if she was to go back to Ryder, Jake would be left crushed and he wasn't sure how easy it would be for him to move on this time. He sighed as he nodded his head slightly, not entirely sure whether or not he actually wanted to go through with the deal.

"Yeah, sure... it's a deal." He replied giving Ryder his most convincing smile and looking down to the comic book Ryder was reading hoping to move on to something else, "Dude, Batman? I knew there was a reason you were my best friend." He said laughing.

"Yeah right? I mean so much cooler than Spiderman!" Ryder replied whilst laughing slightly

"Yes! Dude I always say the same!" Jake said as he and Ryder then delved into their usual superhero conversation and everything Jake was worried about was soon pushed to the side. All that was left now was Marley.

"Girl I'm sorry but I don't even know what you're worrying about. Two of McKinley's hottest guys are after you and you've got a face on you like someone has just slushied you? Unique demands to know what you're thinking!"

* * *

Marley had just finished lunch, meaning that it was now time for glee club, meaning that it was now time for her and Jake to sing her duet and then talk to Ryder. Her stomach wasn't coping well from the excitement of singing the duet with Jake, and then the dread of speaking to Ryder later on. She sighed as she listened to Unique, she wished she could look at it in that way, but right now that just wasn't even a slight thought in her mind.

"I know and it's not because I'm confused anymore, because I'm not. I know who I want to be with, it's just telling the other one that because I know I'll hurt him and I don't want to hurt him because he's my friend and I care about him and and-" Marley was interrupted by her best friend grapping hold of her shoulders and turning her on the spot to face her,

"Okay you need to relax. You said it yourself you know who you wanna be with, and if the other one can't understand that and respect that, then he wasn't worth your precious time in the first place. The heart wants what the heart wants Marley."

Marley couldn't help but smile at Unique's little pep talk, she knew she could always count on her when she felt down or worried to pick her back up and tell her how it is. "Thanks Unique, I really appreciate it."

"Girl you know, any time, any place, any where? If you need me, Unique is there." She replied giving Marley a smirk and letting go of her shoulders and walking towards the choir room, "Now come on, we've got duets to be performing!"

Marley laughed and caught up with Unique just before they reached the door to the choir room, she was now feeling a lot better. However, that lighter feeling was slightly unnerved as she reached the choir room door and saw the two boys sitting next to each other and looking over at her. She swallowed down hard as she quickly diverted her gaze away from the two and sat herself down next to Unique and on the opposite end to where Jake and Ryder where sat.

* * *

The duets had started off with a bang with Ryder and Kitty singing Light My Candle from Rent, which to Marley's surprise seemed to suit both of their voices really well along with some pretty impressive dance moves and convincing acting. Kitty seemed pretty happy as she sat down and Marley couldn't help but laugh slightly as her comment,

"I know, me and the biebs rocked it, you all don't have to tell us" As she sat down flicking her ponytail and giving Ryder a cheeky smile.

"That was a really good performance and very fun to watch, Kitty and Ryder, well done. Now up next are Jake and Marley, so come up guys and show us what you got." Mr Shue spoke as Jake shot Marley a grin from across the room as they both stood up and he grabbed his guitar. Marley gave him a shy smile back before clearing her throat and starting to talk,

"Okay so since Ryder and Kitty's duet was totally awesome and fun, we're gonna mellow the mood a little bit with our song and uh, hope you guys enjoy it." She said nervously and slightly nodding towards Jake to let him know to begin.

Jake took Marley's nod as a heads up, so he began strumming his guitar in the tune he had learnt late last night and Marley began singing right on cue;

**[Marley] **_All I knew this morning when I woke__  
__Is I know something now, know something now I didn't before__  
__And all I've seen since 18 hours ago is green eyes and freckles and your smile in the back of my mind making me feel like _

_I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now__  
__I just want to know you better, know you better, know you better now_

Jake's face instantly lit up when he heard Marley begin to sing, he walked towards her slightly still with his guitar in hand as he also began to sing along with her

**[Both] **_I just want to know you better know you better know you better now__  
__I just want to know you know you know you_

**[Both] **_Cause all I know is we said hello__  
__And your eyes look like coming home__  
__All I know is a simple name, everything has changed__  
__All I know is you held the door__  
__You'll be mine and i'll be yours__  
__All I know since yesterday is everything has changed_

Marley couldn't help the huge smile she had on her face when her and Jake both entered the chorus, they were just staring at each other with smiles on their faces, completely blocking out the rest of the room while their voices flowed with one another. As the chorus came to an end, she found herself biting back her smirk as she turned her back from jake and slightly walked away from him. Jake of course began following her whilst singing his part;

**[Jake] **_And all my walls stood tall painted blue__  
__But i'll take them down, take them down and open up the door for you_

Jake smiled as he followed Marley walking slowly behind her and singing his part, he was amazed by her every time he watched her sing and he could feel the electricity that was connecting them two nights ago all over again right now.

**[Marley] **_And all I feel in my stomach is butterflies the beautiful kind__  
__Making up for lost time, taking flight, making me feel like_

Marley quickly spun herself back round when it was her turn to sing, but was caught completely off guard with how close behind Jake actually was to her. That all too familiar urge was rising again, the urge to feel his lips on hers again. But she knew that here and now in front of everyone, especially Ryder was not appropriate. Instead she chose to stay exactly where she was, inches away from his face and carry on singing;

**[Both] **_I just want to know you better know you better know you better now__  
__I just want to know you better know you better know you better now__  
__I just want to know you better know you better know you better now__  
__I just want to know you know you know you_

Jake was shocked at Marley's willingness to remain so close to him while they carried on singing, his eyes kept glancing over her lips before slightly licking his own. The song was drawling to a close and he already knew he was going to miss being this close to her and looking into those big blue eyes, in approximately 20 seconds. He strummed harder on his guitar as they reached their final chorus and both began singing with more conviction;

**[Both] **_Cause all I know is we said hello__  
__And your eyes look like coming home__  
__All I know is a simple name, everything has changed__  
__All I know is you held the door__  
__You'll be mine and i'll be yours__  
__All I know since yesterday is everything has changed_

As their voices and Jakes guitar playing came to a complete stop, the room was silent for a second while Marley and Jake's eyes remained on each other while they were both smiling and slightly trying to catch their breath. However they were soon interrupted by the eruption of clapping from their fellow glee member as Mr Shue came in between them holding his arms around each of their shoulders and laughing slightly,

"I have to say on behalf of everyone else here, Jake... Marley... that song is a definite contender for nationals this year! You two sounded amazing." He said as he walked them forward and they both broke off to find their own seats again. Marley let out a light sigh as she sat back down and Unique leaned over to her and whispered, "That. Was. Amazing." She said as Marley bowed her head slightly and gave her best friend a shy smile. If last night wasn't enough, then that performance definitely proved to her that she was making the right choice. Marley just couldn't deny her feelings for Jake any more, she was in love with him and the sooner he knew that, the better she would feel.

* * *

As soon as all the duets had been sung and Glee club was over, Marley stood up and walked towards Jake and Ryder who were both talking while grabbing hold of their bags,

"Hey Ryder, can I talk to you for a sec?" she said interrupting the two boys. She slightly glanced towards Jake and gave him a smile but she was left wondering when he gave her a slightly unsure one back.

"Um yeah... sure. I'll catch up with you jake?" Ryder said whilst patting Jake on the shoulder and nodding his head slightly.

Marley looked towards Jake and now she could definitely tell something was up, his face was expressionless as he picked his guitar up and spoke, "Sure... see ya." He said as he walked away and out of the choir room. Marley's gaze went back to Ryder who was now looking at her rather hopefully, she broke their gaze and took a seat on one of the chairs beside them,

"Wanna join me?" She said as Ryder took a seat next to her and looked towards her,

"So, whats this about Mar?"

Marley bit the inside of her cheek as Ryder asked her the question, she felt bad, how could she not? Ryder had only ever been nice to her, but Unique was right, the heart wants what it wants and she just couldn't fight hers anymore.

"You know I care about you don't you Ry?" She started as he gave her a nod in agreement. She sighed and carried on, "And you remember the situation we got ourselves in three years ago?... When you kissed me?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, when that happened, I was so scared, so afraid that when I told Jake about it that he was going to leave me... a-and when I did tell him and he got angry and left, I just remember feeling like-like I couldn't breathe, and when he ended it I was so heartbroken..." she stopped as she had to take control of the lump that was forming in her throat all over again, she knew this was going to hurt him and she hated herself for it.

"What Marley? What is it?" He said as he turned to her giving her a sympathetic look

"... and thinking back on that made me realise who I want to be with, because when me and Jake kissed the other night... I didn't feel that same fear when I thought about you finding out and I didn't feel that same emptiness when I thought about us breaking up..." she placed her hands over his and gave them a squeeze as she looked at him and carried on, "and I know that, that must suck to hear, bu-but I need to be honest with you ... I'm in love with him Ry." She stopped talking after that, she allowed him time to take everything in but didn't take her hands away from his. She watched his head drop with her words as he let out a loud sigh.

"I knew this was coming."

"W-what?"

"I knew how you felt about him. Your duet with him before, the way you were looking at him, it was... different."

"Ryder I'm sorry I really am I-"

"Marley... Its fine, really don't apologise. You can't help who you fall for I guess right?" He said as she watched him lift his head up and give her a weak smile. Marley gave him a smile back along with a sigh of relief as she spoke again,

"That doesn't matter... I'm sorry okay?" She said as she pulled him into a tight hug. She was shocked at how understanding he was being, but she was grateful that she would always have a friend like him in her life.

* * *

Jake was walking to his locker with a million and one thoughts running through his mind. Marley was probably telling Ryder that she chose him right? But what about their duet? That kind of chemistry just can't be faked? That's when he realised he wasn't carrying his guitar. He sighed in frustration as he turned back round towards the choir room.

As he turned to enter the room he was stopped dead in his tracks by the two people who were sat there and embracing one another... Marley and Ryder.

He clenched his jaw and blinked back his frustrations as he backed away from the door frame, not wanting to be seen by either of them. He didn't want their pity, especially from her. He walked with a fast pace, heading towards the exit doors, he knew he shouldn't feel this angry towards her but he couldn't help it, he felt used and in some odd way betrayed. He was sure that he wasn't the only one of the two of them who felt something Saturday night and during their performance earlier, how could there have been that much electricity between them if only one of them felt that way? Why did she kiss him back for so long if she was still in love with Ryder?

Jake was growing angrier as he reached the parking lot and entered his car slamming the car door shut behind him. That was it now, he promised Ryder he'd back off, that was their deal. No more Marley, no more duets, no more hanging out, nothing. He was done.

* * *

**Ooops, jake got the wrong end of the stick! Seriously though I just wanna say thanks to all of you that have followed, favourite or give your reviews for this story, it really means a lot **

**The next chapter will be up soon!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay so I'm pretty sure you will all like the outcome of this chapter (I hope so anyway!) and just letting you know that this might be the last chapter I do on this story for a while (if not completely). Just because I really think it's come to a well rounded end and I don't really wanna carry it on and ruin it for you guys and for myself because I've really loved writing this fic. This will definitely NOT be my last Jarley fic because I literally cannot get enough of these two at the moment so I will be writing more! Anyway thank you for anyone who's took their time to read/review/follow/favourite this story because it means a lot and I hope you all enjoy! :) **

* * *

It was Wednesday and now two days since Marley had last seen or heard from Jake. She and Ryder had been officially broken up since Monday and she had been trying to get hold of Jake through calls and texts to meet up since, but to Marley's dismay she was getting no replies. She had been asking round people from glee club, his basketball team but none of them knew why he hadn't been in school, or where he was for that matter.

Marley had been completely off focus all day, thinking about him, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little anxious as to why he'd been ignoring her calls and texts because she so badly wanted to tell him, to be with him. Marley had even asked Ryder at lunch if she heard from him at all and after a few awkward pauses and stares from people around them he finally told her what everybody else had been saying which was nothing.

Unique suggested that Marley should just tell him over a voice mail or text, which even she had to admit, was not one of her best suggestions. She didn't want to tell him over the phone or through a text message, she wanted to tell him to his face that she loved him back because it's what he deserved.

Eventually school ended and she had still heard nothing from him. She was beginning to think whether he just completely freaked out about him telling her how he felt and was now purposefully ignoring her. Marley sighed at the thought as she walked into the kitchen of her house and slung her bag down onto the table and sat up on her kitchen counter. Her mom who was already cooking dinner stopped as she heard Marley's sigh and turned round to face her daughter.

"Whats wrong hon?"

"Nothing, just... stuff." Marley said quietly as she bit down on her bottom lip

"Wouldn't happen to be Jake Puckerman stuff, would it?" she asked with her eyebrows risen as a slight smirk on her face

Marley let out a snort and gave her mom a bewildered look, "W-what? How did you-"

"Marley I'm your mother, I know when somethin's bothering you... and I know you and Ryder broke up and Jake was being mentioned in every other conversation we had since school started back up, so... What happened?" Her mom asked as she looked towards Marley. She never knew how her mom could do that, read her like a book. She supposed it was just a mom thing, but Marley didn't mind, her mom had been there for her when Jake broke up with her, she saw how heartbroken she was so Marley knew she could talk to her.

"Well... you know about me a Ryder breaking up... but before that, me and Jake kissed... a-and then he told me he was in love with me..." Marley stopped to try and read her mom's reaction, she knew she'd disagree with her for kissing Jake while she was still with Ryder so she wanted to stop and see her reply before revealing more.

Marley's mom let out a soft laugh as she listened to her daughter, "Of course he did. You know Marls, it's not right to go kissin other boys when you're supposed to have a boyfriend... But if I know Jake Puckerman... which I do, then I know he doesn't say those three words very often and to just any girl."

Marley bowed her head to try and hide her reddening cheeks, her mom was right, he never said those words to anyone, only to her and Marley's heart couldn't help but beat harder of the thought of that. She lifted her head up as the reality of not seeing Jake for two days had hit her again as she sighed, "But now I haven't seen him in school since Monday and I've text him like... a dozen times and he just isn't getting back to me and I don't know mom... Wh-what if he changed his mind? What if he doesn't love me anymore and he's just too afraid to break me all over again? I-I-" Marley was stopped by her mother's hands cupping her face, she looked at her with tears clearly forming in her eyes. Losing Jake was hard enough the first time but if she had to go through it all over again, she didn't know whether she could take that again.

"Sh sh sh Marley don't be silly okay? That kind of love doesn't just go away sweetie. I've seen how that boy looks at you, and he's looked at you in that very same way for three whole years. Something like that wouldn't just disappear trust me."

Marley pulled herself back together to her mother's words of encouragement. She gave her a weak smile and laugh as she took her mother's hands from her face and into her own, "Thanks mom, but what do you think I should do? What if something is really up?"

"Well why don't you go and see him? He could be sick or anything, you don't know until you see for yourself." She replied smiling towards Marley. Maybe just turning up at his house wouldn't be such a bad idea? She had thought about it but she wasn't too sure, but maybe her mom was right, he could be sick or maybe something else but she wouldn't know unless she went and saw for herself.

"You're right... I'll go see him." she said pulling her mother into an embrace as her way of saying thank you. She pushed herself off the kitchen worktop, and made her way out of the house, saying goodbye to her mother and putting on her jacket along the way. If he wasn't going to reply to her, then she was just going to have to turn up at his house and tell him herself.

* * *

Jake sat on his couch playing his video games, like he had been for the past two days. Two days since he last saw or spoke to Marley. He convinced his mom he was too sick to go to school Tuesday morning, because honestly he didn't want to have to go back to the Marley and Ryder love fest that was now going to be McKinley. He just couldn't face it, not this time, things were different now after he confessed everything to Marley for her to just choose his best friend, he didn't want to have to see them holding hands and doing whatever else in the halls, he didn't want to have to hear about how adorable they were by the rest of the glee club. The thought of it all made him feel sick to his stomach and even more so when his mom would finally force him to go to school.

Marley had texted and rang Jake too many times over the past two days. He only read the first text that said something about her needing to talk to him, but he didn't want any of her pity, he didn't want to see her face or hear her voice only to be reminded of what he lost and what he was never going to get back.

Whilst playing on one of his games, he was interrupted by rapid knocking coming from his front door, he sighed as he got up expecting it to be his mom forgetting something,

"Mom you really need to remember to use your ke-" He stopped as he opened the door to see the person standing in front of him was not his mother, but Marley. He sighed as he leaned against the door frame, "Marls... Marley, what are you doing here?" He asks, but before he can even get his last word out she is barging past him and walking straight into his living room.

He quickly follows her shaking his head, "Oh come on in!" he says sarcastically

He watches her look around his living room and then finally turns to him, he knew that look on her face, she was annoyed and he couldn't for the life of him understand why.

"So, obviously you're not sick?" she says crossing her arms across her chest

"No?"

"So why have you been ignoring all of my calls and texts then Jake? I've been worried about you!" She replies. She wasn't shouting but Jake could tell through the sternness of her voice that she wasn't happy. He gritted his teeth in annoyance of her question, how could she not know why he had been ignoring her? Did she really think they'd be okay after this?

"Why do you care Marley? Haven't you got Ryder to be worrying about?" He says defensively, raising his eyebrows to challenge her.

"W-what? What are you talking abo-"

"I saw you Marley!" He says raising his voice over hers. He sees how she is taken aback slightly so breathes in, trying to control his anger, "I saw you and Ryder on Monday after practice. I know."

He hears Marley scoff when he's finished talking and is surprised at her voice being raised when she speaks back at him, "So you just think that ignoring me would make the situation any better?! Why would you think that?!"

"Because I can't talk to you about it okay! I can't hear it! I don't wanna hear about it, or see it or anything! I can't Marley." He says shouting back, trying to calm himself down because he didn't want her to be afraid of him but it was all becoming too much for him.

"God Jake you're so stupid sometimes!" She says as he hears her voice break slightly, he doesn't say anything he just looks at her. He watches her unfold her arms and run her hands through her hair before taking in a deep breath and continuing to talk, "I came here tonight because I needed to speak to you. I needed to speak to you because after Sunday night... I can't stop thinking about you and what you said to me." She said trying not to let the lump in her throat break her, "You told me you loved me, and I need you to know that I love you too and that I always have." Suddenly she feels tears form in her eyes, but she ignores it and carries on, "And I was afraid, I was afraid of letting my guard down again and getting hurt, because it sucked last time. And I thought that I was over you, but every time I think we're through, you pull me back in and I'm completely powerless." She was crying, crying because she was telling him everything that she had wanted to tell him, crying because she had kept it all in for three long years and she wasn't finished yet, "Me and you aren't supposed to be the perfect couple, we're polar opposites. I'm pretty sure we're supposed to even dislike each other..." she says giving a weak laugh though the tears are still falling, "I don't know if we're supposed to be together, but every time I'm around you it just feels... right. I feel at home when I'm with you and these past three years without you have been hell. I've missed you and I haven't stopped missing you since you let me go on the bleachers three years ago..." She looked up and stared into those brown eyes that she loved so much, "I'm completely in love with you Jake Puckerman." She finishes looking towards him helplessly.

Jake could see the tears trickling down her face, yet he didn't move. He was absorbing everything, this moment, her words, the words he had wanted to hear for so long had finally left her mouth. That's when he reacted. He walked right over too her, placing one hand on her face and the other to her waist and crashed his lips to her own. He tightened his grip on her waist as though his life depended on it, never wanting to let her go.

Marley reacted instantly as Jake's lips touched her own; her hands that were rested against his chest moved their way around the back of Jake's neck as she ran her fingers through his curls and parted her lips to allow Jake access. The kiss felt exactly like it did 4 days earlier, only this time they both knew exactly what the other was feeling, and if they didn't, then this kiss would have confirmed it.

They finally break apart with their foreheads still touching. Marley inhales deeply taking everything in and trying to control the feeling in the pit of her stomach. This felt so right, he felt so right and she was so completely and utterly in love with him in this moment that nothing or nobody in the world could take it away from her. She looked deeply into his chocolate brown eyes as she bit down on her bottom lip trying to conceit the obvious smile that was spreading across her face. She knew this time would be different for them, she knew he wouldn't hurt her again, she trusted him. She brought one of her hands to his own and taking hold of it as she looked at him again before walking backwards towards the stairs. Her gaze never leaving his until she began walking up the stairs with his hand still entwined with her own.

As they both reached the top of the stairs and walked into his bedroom, Marley turned back around and brought her lips to his again, this time the kiss being a lot slower and more passionate. Marley tried to put everything into that kiss as she took her hands that were rested against his neck and slid them down to the buttons on his shirt as she slowly began unbuttoning each button.

Jake's mind was racing as he carried on kissing Marley and felt her hands slowly begin to unbutton his shirt. He pulled away slightly as she finished unbuttoning, resting his head against hers, he closed his eyes and his breath hitched, "Are you sure you wanna do this Marls?" He asked her, he knew he'd be able to stop now if she didn't want to, it happened many a time when they were together before, but if they were to carry on he wouldn't be able to control his feelings. He moved his head away from hers as he watched her simply stare back at him and nod. It told Jake everything as he quickly brought her back in to a passionate kiss.

Marley reacted by pushing his unbuttoned shirt off of his shoulders and dragging her nails lightly against his back. Jake did the same with Marley's jacket as it was discarded onto the floor, and he brought his hands down to the bottom of Marley's vest top slowly pulling it up and over her. He took a moment to admire her body, how she could have ever think she was anything other than perfect was a wonder to Jake, because that's what she was to him, perfect he thought as he lifted her up and Marley wrapped her legs around his waist. His kisses moved to her neck as he slowly walked over to the bed and laid her down. He moved himself on top of her, using his arms to support himself. His eyes bored into her crystal blue ones.

"I love you Marley Rose." He said, and he meant it. He had never felt this way about anyone before and he was pretty certain that he never would again. He knew she'd be nervous and he wanted to make sure she knew how much he cared about her before they carried on.

Marley smiled at Jake's words, she knew he meant it and she loved hearing it. She swallowed down hard and let out a sigh before speaking again, "And I love you back Jake Puckerman" she spoke as she brought her lips back to his. She knew she was ready, she wanted this, and she wanted him, and right now nothing else mattered to her.

* * *

Jake was woken up the next morning by two things, one being his alarm clock, and the other being the sweet flowery scent coming from the girl asleep next to him in the bed. It was safe to say he preferred the latter. He smiled to himself as he turned his alarm off and rolled back over wrapping his arm around Marley's waist and pulling her near him so his front was touching her back. He kissed the back of her head and moved his mouth down to her ear and whispered softly,

"It's time to wake up Rose, we've got school to be attending." He said smiling to himself. Last night with Marley had been amazing, and this morning and waking up to her next to him was even better.

Marley let out a small groan as she turned round to face him, "Five more minutes..." she said as she buried her head into Jakes bare chest.

Jake laughed at her remark as he rubbed his hand up and down her back, "Okay, okay... but your mom called me and asked me where you were so I-" Jake didn't even get time to finish before Marley shot up and looked round the bed to try and find her phone. Jake burst into laughter as he watched Marley squirm over his lie.

Marley stopped and turned to look towards Jake as he was laughing, "You little liar!" She said hitting his chest slightly, trying to stop herself from laughing along with him, "I could kill you!" she said carrying on hitting him.

Jake's laughed stifled a bit as Marley hit him lightly, "Hey hey, come on I had to wake you up!" he said as he pulled her arms towards him so she was lying on top of him. He nudged his nose against hers as he spoke again, "and besides, even if your mom did call, she loves me too much that she'd never shout." He said teasingly before giving her a long drawn out kiss.

Marley could feel her stomach doing somersaults all over again as Jake kissed her, it made her almost forget what he said as she laughed, "Hmm, I wouldn't be so sure. Knowing you kept her daughter out all night doesn't really get you any brownie points." She said with a smirk, giving him a light kiss on his cheek.

Jake laughed a little at Marley's comment, "Yeah well I didn't hear her daughter complaining last night either." He said with an even bigger smirk on his face. He knew Marley would know that he was joking, but he just loved making her blush.

Marley blushed furiously at Jakes comment as she buried her head into his shoulder in embarrassment. He was right though, she didn't complain and she wasn't going to either. Last night was perfect, Jake was perfect. She lifted her head up as she bit down on the corner of her lip, "Jake, last night was-"

"Amazing." Jake said interrupting Marley before lifting his head up again to kiss her. When they broke apart, Marley bowed her head slightly and smiled shyly before looking back at him to meet her eyes with his own,

"Yeah. It was amazing." She said

"I love you Marls."

"I love you too jake."

They both smiled as they lay there for a few more minutes before getting up and getting themselves changed and heading downstairs to leave for school. Marley would explain everything to her mom later, but right now all she could think about was how happy she was, how happy they both were together, and that was all that mattered.


End file.
